“Talent agents have long been part of the book, movie, and music industries. This wasn’t always so in video games, but the arrival of people such as Hilbert is a sure sign of a maturing and increasingly influential art form. Two decades ago developers made games in their garages, advertised them on the backs of comic books, and mailed them to customers in zip-lock bags. They saw themselves as software designers rather than as “talent,” a word traditionally used in the entertainment world to describe the likes of Tom Cruise, Jennifer Lopez, or anyone else who does something in front of a camera or microphone or on a keyboard.
Agents go where there’s money, and the video game industry is overflowing with it. Revenues reached $25 billion in the U.S. last year, according to the Entertainment Software Assn. That’s more than double Hollywood’s theatrical receipts. “
BusinessWeek
Photo of Jeff Hilbert, one of the most successful agents for games.
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