‘HOW WE’RE BRINGING PROTOTYPE TO THE MASSES’ Radical Entertainment studio VP Dave Fracchia tells MCVwhy Prototype 2can become a smash hit. “You have to look at criticism,” he says. “What things did we do really well with in the original and where did we fail to deliver? “We sacrificed quality for quantity in the first game. We want to go beyond the hardcore and deliver Prototypefor the masses. We want to bring more players to the Prototype party by focusing on clarity, fairness and ease of use. “And the release period is
absolutely advantageous. There were a few games that were getting hints at potentially being released around our game but they’ve all kind of moved, so we literally own April. “We sold 2.1m copies of the first game and our expectations are much higher for this one. We’re roughly looking at selling between 1.5 to two times more – I think that is our expectation at least. Part of it is because we’re broadening the audience but I think we’re also increasing more awareness to the game. With Prototypewe started the hype about a year before release, with Prototype 2we started it 18 months prior to release. “The first Prototypewas a new IP made during a transition between Vivendi and Activision, during a huge recession. So what you saw was cautiousness in that period of time. And the fact that we were able to sell as many copies of the first game told us we had to do even more this time.”
MUTANT MERCHANDISE Activision has launched a Prototype 2online store which is selling art and clothing based on the game, including T-shirts, hoodies and caps. It was set up after Radical saw demand for themat Gamescom. “Fans wanted to rip our hoodies off of us,” says Radical’s Dave Fracchia.
DARK HORSE
Activision has teamed up with Dark Horse Comics to produce graphic novel tie-ins that bridge the gap between Prototypeand Prototype 2. The publisher also launched a
Facebook app that lets users create their own monsters. The Facebook page has over 430,000 likes.
WHAT IS RADNET? Radnet is an in-game ‘advent calendar’ that provides gamers with new events and challenges at certain times. By completing these, users can unlock rewards such as new themes and content. The Prototype 2 Radnet Edition will include 55 free pieces of content like weapons and is limited to those who pre-order the game.