A key figure in bringing indies to Nintendo platforms goes indie himself.
Dan Adelman, Nintendo of America’s Head of Digital Content and Development, has left the company in order to work directly within the independent game scene he so vigorously championed at Nintendo.
Adelman was involved in the launches of both the original Xbox hardware and Xbox Live Arcade before setting up shop at NOA for 9 years, during which time he headed up the digital distribution strategy for WiiWare, DSiWare, 3DS eShop, and Wii U eShop. He helped bring well-received independent titles such as World of Goo, the BIT.TRIP series, and Cave Story to the Wii during the early days of the modern independent movement in video games. He has since been seen as a key figure in Nintendo’s evolving position in the indie games scene as the company continues to improve its policies and attract more independent developers to its platforms.
During his tenure, Adelman was a somewhat controversial figure, as well. In an interview with Kotaku following his departure, he spoke regarding the clash between Nintendo’s carefully-controlled PR messaging and his desire for straight talk. He was seven years deep into his run at the company before he was allowed to speak in an official capacity for them, and he later came under scrutiny for sending out tweets that weren’t in tow with the company line. He was eventually asked to discontinue Twitter use.
However, he notes that "there were a ton of policies that have been updated and improved" during his stay at Nintendo, from the abolishment of the policy mandating developer office space to a requirement that games sell a minimum number of units for developers to qualify for revenue sharing.
"There are a bunch of other business terms that were made much more favorable to developers," he mused. "I think a lot of those are covered under NDA, so I can't go into detail about them, but suffice it to say, it made Nintendo much more comparable, and in many cases, even more indie-friendly than other platforms."
His new endeavor is to serve as a sort of gun-for-hire to support indie developers’ projects using his unique and varied skill-set and knowledge, particularly on the business side of things.
“What I'm planning on doing is working directly with several indie game studios as their business guy – whatever that really means,” he told Kotaku. “In the same way that a core dev studio needs a programmer, designer, artist, and sound person, I think there's also a need for a business person. It's definitely a different kind of role than the other ones, but it can be really critical, since one smart business decision can cut your costs in half or double your sales – and vice versa.”
His split with Nintendo was an amicable one. He says the eShop has been left in very capable hands, and he stressed that he was far from the only one supporting indies within the company. “People at Nintendo don’t need to be reminded that indie games are important,” he said. “They play them every day. In fact, one of the reasons I decided to leave was that there were fewer and fewer new battles to wage.”
I'm not saying I blame the guy, but despite him saying all the nice things about the changes and people still there to carry the torch, the subtext tells me job disatisfaction and not being able to handle not having a public voice on Nintendo's tight-lipped nature.
