We now have 3D simulations with photorealistic graphics, sophisticated characters, and compelling plotlines. Is there still a place in the 2020s for text-oriented IF? To me, asking about the place of text-based IF is like asking about the place of books. We have movies, video games, and comics in the 2020s, so why do we still need books? To me, the answer is that for some people, the experience of a text is even more compelling than a game or a movie because it takes place in the imagination of the reader.

Modern 3D games are amazing simulations and certainly can tell involving narratives. They also cost millions of dollars to make and require a cast and crew of hundreds of people. Books and text-oriented IF can be produced by a single person for a fraction of the cost of a 3D game or a movie. To write a book, all one needs is a facility with language and a story to tell. To make a text-oriented IF, one needs some programming skills, a facility with language, and a story. As a software developer and a writer, for me the hard part of creating IF has always been writing the story.

A book or a text-IF might not make millions of dollars like a movie or a 3D game, but it can still be a worthwhile enterprise for an author. A work of text-IF is cheaper to make and the profits need to be shared amongst fewer people.

Looking at Steam, there aren’t many successful companies making text-based interactive fiction besides Choice of Games–but on the other hand Choice of Games seems to be doing quite well. Surely, assuming one has compelling stories to tell, there’s more room in the market.

Categories: Interactive-Fiction