Story writing: Games and Books (part 5)

Where do the writers for games come from? Often, these writers have already written and published several novels. Game companies seek out and hire established writers, not only because they hope they'll draw from the author's existing fan-base, but also because an already established author is going to have the necessary skills for writing engaging stories. Gamers, especially gamers that enjoy RPG's, demand great stories from their games. They're paying upwards of $60 sometimes for an RPG, and are planning to sink 50+ hours into the game, so a sub-par story is going to earn the game some very bad reviews. Are games the pseudo-books of a new generation? They certainly engage the reader in a dynamic way, allowing the reader to make choices and influence the outcome. Some people that play these kinds of games do so because they want to actually be “doing” something at the same time they're enjoying a story. Books and story-driven games are different and attract a wide range of people, but in the end, a good story can be told in any form. That's great news for writers, because it means that their skills are in even greater demand!