When I started podcasting over 2.5 years ago, there were maybe a dozen gaming podcasts. Maybe. And that includes general gaming podcasts and only 2 WoW podcasts at the time. Now there are thousands and thousands of game-related podcasts. It’s really quite incredible, and it makes me so proud that I was able to get into that whole scene early.
Yes, there’s always a but. Lately, podcasting has taken an ugly turn. It’s an inevitable turn, but ugly nonetheless. I’m talking about the corporate influx of podcasts. Now, I don’t care if Ford has a podcast about their upcoming cars and trucks, or Nestle makes a podcast about their newest line of dark chocolate truffles or whatever, I’m speaking of major game developing companies doing their own versions of what the average-Joe gamer has been doing for years.
Here’s what gets me the most about this, it’s the progression of events that led up to this.
Step 1. Enthusiastic Gamer starts podcast about their favorite MMO.
Step 2. Enthusiastic Gamer (now Enthusiastic Podcaster) contacts the developer team of his favorite game for interviews and any exclusive breaking news regarding said game.
Step 3. Game developers pat Enthusiastic Podcaster on the head and comments on how cute it is that some random guy with a microphone is talking about their game.
Step 4. Enthusiastic Podcaster continues to be ignored for interviews, and generally seen as not real media or journalism.
Step 5. Enthusiatic Podcaster reaches a unique download count of nearly 10,000 for each episode.
Step 6. Game Developers notice that this new-fangled podcasting thing on the interwebs might actually be something afterall.
Step 7. Game Developer’s publisher gets the ball rolling on their own podcast, featuring inside reports from the devs themselves, top quality audio with top quality equipment and an automatic listener-base of hundreds of thousands from the start. Who cares how enthusiastic they are.
Step 8. Enthusiastic Podcaster loses most of their listeners, resulting in the dreaded podfade.
Sony did it. Blizzard did it, and now NC Soft is doing it. We all knew it was coming, and quite honestly, I’m surprised it took them so long. But it’s here.
Does this mean the end of grassroots podcasting? No, of course not. There will still be people who enjoy the real opinion from the real gamer. And to be quite honest, I think in a sick twisted way, this might be a good thing for podcasters. It gets the word out that podcasting isn’t some strange cult fad, and it’s growing.
All I ask of the devs is… don’t forget who started it.
