So I've been wondering for quite some time now.

places like Reddit may illustrate this the best, where someone creates something, and a lot of people in the community comment.

It also doesn't help that a lot of platforms try to sell the idea that 'ANYONE can be a creator.

I seem to remember some youtube vid making the point that the line between creator and consumer is mixing more and more now.

I feel like it's like 30-40% of people are creators, and the rest are mainly consumers.

What yall think?

GeneralJist said:
It also doesn't help that a lot of platforms try to sell the idea that 'ANYONE can be a creator.

This is like Disney's Ratatouille, “anyone can cook”.

You don't need to have a specific personality or background to be a great creator. Anyone can be a creator. That doesn't mean everyone can be a creator, many people who want to create end up being quite bad at it despite their desires.

The barriers and gatekeeping that used to be there have been knocked down further and further. At the beginning it used to require degrees in applied mathematics and hardware engineering, custom-built integrated circuits and cabinet carpentry, programmers who had memorized every instruction the chip was capable of, the timings they required, and hand-tuned everything. Now anyone can make games with nothing more than a web browser. Today you can edit text files and run the javascript, getting the assets and the knowledge from web searches. There are zero-code engines where you can make games using nothing more than free or low-cost tools and your own enthusiasm.

GeneralJist said:
I feel like it's like 30-40% of people are creators, and the rest are mainly consumers.

I'd say it is closer to six nines that are consumers, maybe 99.9999% or so are consumers. Plus, nearly all creators are also consumers.

There are billions of people around the globe who play games, there are thousands of people who make them. Maybe 3 billion game consumers, and a few thousand game content creators at any given time.

GeneralJist said:
I feel like it's like 30-40% of people are creators, and the rest are mainly consumers.

Wow, 30-40% sounds high, but can't tell.

To me, promising creator features to consumers mostly feels like marketing hogwash.
But i do think we could gain a lot by giving people creative options while playing games. I mean things like Minecraft, not something like picking your personal, custom NFT skin.
But ideally i mean ‘creative gameplay’, where unlike Minecraft we play a real game, but have many options to address given problems, so we feel creative and smart while playing. Just don't ask me yet what mechanics i mean precisely with this… : )

JoeJ said:
ow, 30-40% sounds high, but can't tell.

I really don't know, I'm just spitballing here.

frob said:
This is like Disney's Ratatouille, “anyone can cook”. You don't need to have a specific personality or background to be a great creator. Anyone can be a creator. That doesn't mean everyone can be a creator, many people who want to create end up being quite bad at it despite their desires. The barriers and gatekeeping that used to be there have been knocked down further and further.

ahh yes.

maybe a better question and framing is how many creatives are able to either support themselves or be in situations where they make orgs to do and express their passions?

IDK how to better fraise that….

GeneralJist said:
how many creatives are able to either support themselves or be in situations where they make orgs to do and express their passions? IDK how to better fraise that….

Perhaps “How many creatives are able to earn a living wage from making games?"

For that question, lots of people can and do. It can be approached as a business venture with a goal of building a self-sustaining enterprise. Just be mindful that there needs to be a transition, it isn't “I'm making a game” but instead the mindset of “I'm building a business that makes games.”

There are two articles from almost 20 years ago on the site that still apply, although you need to use more modern names for the business models. “Shareware” is similar to “free to play” today. Anyway, 3-page article 1, and article 2. The author is now a self-made millionaire long since retired from games.

GeneralJist said:
I feel like it's like 30-40% of people are creators, and the rest are mainly consumers.

Divide it by 100.