<p>I spend my life playing games, and anyone my age can relate to the feeling that "games just aren't what they used to be". You no longer get games made with the same love and ambition as you used to, as the industry has grown heavy-duty publishers have taken over and its all become about making money. Game design decisions are manipulated and controlled by investors, not by designers. Why risk all that money on a unique idea or a hardcore niche market when we can just make another sequel to a plain old shooter and make millions? Innovation is discouraged in favour of crowd-pleasing graphics and casual shooters with quicktime events. If we're lucky and get a sequel to an old classic, it'll probably get remade into a 1st person shooter.</p> <p><br />I spent a few years working as a game programmer in my early 20's but I hated it, working on stupid little cash-cow games felt like a waste of time. So I left, and spent the last 6 years working on the game full-time, while I worked 2 12-hour shifts per week as a security guard to make just enough money to scrape by. During that time I turned down several jobs in the game industry, and more recently, a couple of small publishers too. I'm not for sale and neither is Kenshi, I will never allow it to be controlled or rushed out the door to meet a deadline.<br /><br /></p>