/noclip's Brand New Direction... (Patreon)

UNLISTED YOUTUBE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/HFSjZCZJbVk

Hello my dear Patrons,

We celebrate /noclip's 10th Birthday on September 12th. A decade of documentaries filmed at 100s of studios around the world. It's been a wild ride, and I wouldn't have changed a thing, but the times they are a-changing, and so am I. So it's time to mix it up!

This 30 minute video explains the what, why and how of this decision. But the bones of it are I want to /noclip outside of studios for the next few years. Many of our original goals with /noclip - to open studios up, to create empathy between players and developers, and to demystify the world of games development - and well, that's much more the world we live in these days.

We've also covered an insane number of the studios we wanted to. Many others are ones we didn't have the required mutual trust to step into. And lastly, and perhaps more importantly, I've grown creatively - and I want a new mountain to climb.

BEFORE YOU FREAK OUT...

We're not done covering games development! We're also not entirely done filming at big studios. First off we have 3 large studio docs in post-production right now (Hades 2, That Game Company, Cyberpunk) and Jeremy is planning to keep editing thoughtful retrospectives like his Dust2 and Star Wars Galaxies docs. If a MASSIVE opportunity to cover a cool studio comes up, we'll go. Or in-development plans like our Fallout: New Vegas project, we'll of course jump at projects like that. But the days of /noclip's backbone being the studio-retrospective are behind us.

The future of /noclip is still video game documentaries - but more interesting, personal documentaries about the broader world of gaming. I still want to create documentaries about game development. I still want to create documentaries about classic games. But I also want to tell stories about the issues facing us today. I want to tell more stories about gamers, about games coverage, about preservationists, video game stores, gaming communities, different parts of the world and so much more. To tell some of the stories that I had planned to ten years ago before we funneled our vision directly at development.

I want our work to push back on the idea that developers are disposable, or cogs in a corporate machine that can be replaced by AI. That they have lives outside the studio and skills built over years. Developers are more than just the people we meet at their workplace. That players aren't just names on reddit posts - but folks with desires, fears and dreams. That games coverage is essential for a healthy public discourse. To highlight the lives and work of YouTubers and streamers and how they influence our world. To talk to gamers around the globe about how and why they play.

To noclip us out of the studio, and into the broader world.

Most importantly I want to break the format. To stop replying on talking head style interviews and bring you on the journey with me. I want to flex my creative muscles like I did in the Disco Elysium and Dwarf Fortress docs, but without the burden of such a massive story.

I have dozens of ideas for docs, built up over years - some of which I mention in the video. Stories that speak to the worlds of development and play, but that are happening right now, and not only memories from the past.

I realize I'm asking you for a big leap of faith. Many in the gaming community will be taken aback when we announce this during our 10 year anniversary celebrations. But for me it's an important new chapter for us. To take everything we've learned, and with over 100 documentaries in our back pocket - to break the format once again and create another new type of games coverage.

Thank you for being on this decade-long journey with me. You've watched me and the team learn, and grow, and become better at what we do. Now it's time to take all we've learned and use it for a new mission.

This is also going to help me build noclip as a concept and community from the ground up again. To hit reset and fix all the things about how we interact with the community, do events, involve you in the process, and even the length and tone of videos we produce.

Hitting 10 years was clearly a mental barrier for me, and as we approach it I feel as energized as I was when we first launched. I can't explain it, it simply is.

I'm insanely excited to go ahead with this, and I'm hoping that our 10 year run gained us enough trust that people will take this next leap with us.

And as you are the people standing in lockstep with us on a daily basis, I wanted you to hear it first.

Thank you, for everything. And please let me know what you think in the comments.

Much love,Danny