BETA | FREE-TO-PLAY
are mobile games developers are still pushing the premium side.”
Reil admits that the model is not without
its risks, as developing a console quality game for mobile is not cheap. With millions of apps vying for the consumer’s attention, spending big on a game and hoping it will resonate with users enough for them to spend money on it repeatedly when they can play for free could make or break lesser studios. “It is becoming risky for a small company
to put all their eggs into one basket for a high-end free-to-play game, but those are going to be the games that will ultimately be successful,” he says. “If you have enough, learning by either
having a game published or by actually doing it as part of a bigger company, as we’re doing right now, you can de-risk those games quite significantly.” He adds that those who successfully move
into the field now, will gain ‘critical mass’ advantages down the line, where studios can send users of games to other titles they have developed. He highlights that the half a million daily users of MyHorse could be advertised to to kick-start a new title quickly, alleviating some of the potential pitfalls of a free-to-play game. “The situation that we are in right now in the UK is it’s still so early that we can create these really massive companies that can make a difference and play a big role in this,” he says. Robertson adds: “There’s so much dev talent in the UK already that it would seem a shame to lose it abroad.”
NaturalMotion’s Backbreaker (above) served as a significant stepping stone as the middleware company moved to embrace internal game development
and other people are making huge amounts of money. Those complaining will then try to join when its too late.
“I think this is such a big opportunity and I
would also say a there’s a responsibility to wake people up, because I am shocked at how conservative and cynical people are in this country about free-to-play.” Robertson adds that he is also surprised about the lack of willingness to embrace free-to-play despite its potential for success. He says MyHorse is the studio’s biggest money making game to date, ahead of their pay up front titles like Backbreaker, yet so many other developers are ignoring it for the premium model. “I was talking on a panel at a mobile event
recently and I was surprised at the support of premium games from the attendees there. My surprise wasn’t at the point of view on the ethics of free, but because it’s clear to see that freemium games make so much more commercial sense right now,” he explains. “It seems especially surprising that people who
48 | FEBRUARY 2012
A CULTURE OF CYNICISM Reil says that to do this, the UK needs to pull away from its cynical ways and embrace ambition, which he believes is sorely lacking in the country’s culture. But if it can get over this, he believes that the poor condition of the industry will actually act as the perfect platform for developers, who are not constrained by creating big franchises, and largely have great experience and skills in creating console quality games. “The reason why the country is in this position is because of that skill. Ironically, because of the weakness of the market right now and since so much development has gone to other countries such as Canada, we should have greater freedom to experiment with new stuff as we don’t actually have to deal with these huge games at the moment,” he explains. “We have all the ability and all the skills,
the problem is that we also, certainly in the UK, have a mindset that works against that. I think even the idea of being ambitious and building a world leading company doesn’t actually necessarily resonate with everyone the way it needs to.” He also claims that as well as embracing
change, the UK is behind when it comes to combining creativity with analytics, believing the country is still lacking in that discipline whilst other regions such as the San Francisco entertainment hub have already moved ahead in that area. “It’s not about creating the kind of game
we’ve been creating before. It’s about combining your creativity with pretty systematic analytics,” he says.
“The truth is if you don’t do that, you are
going to get your arse kicked by everyone else whose doing it, and the UK is still lacking that kind of discipline at the moment. This is going to cause huge issues in the market if people don’t wake up to it.”
CREATING A WORLD LEADER Reil adds that the technology ecosystem that has cropped up in San Francisco can appear in the UK if the work is put in now to get in early on the latest industry trends, and this will gradually spawn further spin-offs, creating a once again healthy industry. “It’s basically founders setting up another
company and another company. There’s a whole network of people now who know how to do this and to improve the quality of a studio and a game every time,” he says. “And that’s basically what we need to have in the UK as well. I think that requires a few bigger companies, but around that you have a whole cluster of smaller companies, some of which will grow really big themselves. “That’s really the opportunity right now that the UK has. At the moment we are having our lunch eaten by Germany for example, which has more of these companies at a much bigger scale. Now it’s time for people to really use the skills that are here in this country and build ambitious companies.”
It is becoming risky for a small company
to put all their eggs into one basket for a high-end free- to-play game, but those are going to be the games that will ultimately be
successful. Torsten Reil, NaturalMotion
But so confident is Reil in the UK’s abilities if these problems and the engrained collective cynicism in UK culture can be overcome, that he says the opportunity is not just about the survival of the UK industry, but that “it’s about turning this around and becoming one of the world leaders again”. If NaturalMotion Games’ growth is any
indicator of what the genre could bring to the rest of the country, the future certainly looks bright for any takers. Having only officially formed in October 2010, NaturalMotion’s games division now stands at 110 employees. Reil and Robertson say most of this has come in the last six months, coinciding with the company’s move into high-end free-to-play development, and plans to hire plenty more staff as it expands. The studio’s rapid growth and large
success with its debut high-end free-to-play title should provide food for thought for developers around the world as the industry continues to evolve at an electric pace. Will this new genre of console quality free gaming become the biggest gaming market of all time as Reil predicts, and perhaps overtake traditional triple-A titles? Watch this space, or take Reil’s advice and act on it.
www.naturalmotion.com
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