Manifesto Games

Greg Costikyan has announced in a blog post that he is closing Manifesto Games. Manifesto Games started in September of 2005 with the goal of making independently developed games available outside typical retail outlets.

In 2006, Costikyan wrote this about Manifesto,
“The machinery of gaming has run amok.

It is time for revolution.”

Unfortunately things haven’t worked out the way he envisioned. Steam has become a channel that developers are using and XBLA, WiiWare and iPhone have created even easier ways for others to get their games out to the public.

“To those who cheered for us and shared our vision of a thriving game market that rewards creative vision instead of licensed drivel and repetitive ‘franchise’ remakes, a place for exploratory design to uncover the true capabilities of the ars ludorum, a commercial channel where imaginative game creators can make a reasonable living on a far smaller scale than the conventional market, a future for more than the handful of genres the major publishers deem worth funding — don’t give up the faith. It will happen. One company’s loss won’t change that. The creative heritage of games will endure.”

Read the full blog entry on PlaythisThing which will continue.