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A designer from an independent studio told us how his comic book-styled, caveman-starring CryEngine 2 game will succeed among the skeptical gaming community.
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Last week, when I conducted an e-mail interview with "Merchants of Brooklyn" lead designer John Stookey, he talked about how he and a small team at SoCal-based Paleo Entertainment created their new caveman FPS using the CryEngine 2. He also spoke about the difficulties of being an independent studio and the way in which his game will succeed or fail to grasp gamers.
MTV Multiplayer: As an independent developer, do you feel that there's extra difficulty in convincing gamers to give your game a chance? From your perspective, what are the advantages and disadvantages of being an independent developer?
Lead designer, John Stookey: It is unquestionably more difficult to convince gamers to give your game a shot as an independent developer. Paleo is a small company and we don't have the ching [money] to do a huge marketing campaign. There are a lot of advantages to being an indie game company – most importantly is that we make all of the decisions regarding the game. Our vision is kept intact as we are in complete control.
We are a very small team, 10 people to be exact, and everyone here gets a voice in the game. In a big game company, it is much more difficult for your voice to be heard. Everyone at Paleo is highly creative and the ideas that are brought up are truly amazing. There are some drawbacks to being a small company, however - number one being budget. Big studios have the luxury of big bucks to make and market extravagant games. As an independent game developer, our budget was small and we had to be very careful with every dollar we spent.
MTV Multiplayer: How do you think "M.O.B." will break through to the audience then, given that there's less marketing money? (And besides from simply having a great game?)
Stookey: Word of mouth will be a key component to the success of "Merchants of Brooklyn." Since we do not have the big bucks to pimp the game across all media, people are generally going to hear about it from their friends. There are the select few gamers out there that are up to date on every game that is released or under development, but your average Joe is not going to hear about "Merchants of Brooklyn" unless someone informs them of it.
Big money advertising can force-feed games down people's throats - and those games will sell irregardless of quality. Take "Grand Theft Auto IV," for example... there was nowhere that you could look without seeing an advertisement for that game. Even if "GTA IV" wound up being crap, the sales would still be through the roof due to product notoriety and big marketing dollars.
With a game like "Merchants of Brooklyn" and a Steam release, we have the opportunity to continually update the game with new and exciting features - building on what we have already achieved. If you make a game that people enjoy, word will spread and people will catch on. If that happens, the franchise is built and it is much easier to get a sequel out to the public as it is already recognized and followed by the fans.
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"Merchants of Brooklyn" is now available on Steam.
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