David Braben has told GamesIndustry.biz of his desire to see developers take more risks with the games they create - stating that innovative and daring releases can often lead to great financial success for the developers that take a chance.

The veteran believes that designers releasing new games might now be in a position to glean greater rewards than games of the more derivative variety. Roller-coaster Tycoon and were held up by Braben as examples of this.

"Roller-coaster Tycoon initially didn't sell well but gradually grew into a huge seller. But there was mass scepticism within the industry. almost didn't publish The Sims. They thought they'd humour Will Wright because he's done good stuff in the past and it ended up as the world's number one seller."

"These things would not get embraced by big business. In terms of return on investment you've got to be able to forecast, usually based on an existing title," he added.

He also praised the merits of being an independent developer, despite the rising costs of developing games in the UK. More soon.

By Luke Guttridge