SECRET MODE ORIGINS
Talking to Richie Shoemaker, Secret Mode’s director of publishing James Schall reveals the journey to establish Sumo Group’s indie publishing outfit as confident rather than confidential
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James Schall, Director of Publishing, Secret Mode
orn in the midst of a pandemic, Sumo Group’s indie publishing arm is celebrating its first birthday just as the
world appears to be leaping from proverbial frying pan into literal fire. However, despite the troubles well beyond its control, it has been a successful twelve months for the fledgling outfit. Not just because it’s been bookended by the release of two bona fide cult classics (the “redimensioned” Amiga platformer Zool and the more recent and utterly barking Wobbledogs), but because the stated objective a year ago to reestablish the often cursory and fraught relationship between developer and publisher appears to have been achieved. Much of the credit – for the realignment
at least – belongs to director of publishing James Schall, who was destined to become a marine biologist before a Saturday retail job at Virgin altered the course of his career. Quickly promoted to buyer before leading an import/ export house, Schall was eventually to become one of the first employees at Amazon UK where he began “understanding the connectivity
40 | MCV/DEVELOP April 2022
between players and games companies”. The insight continued during a long and
fruitful stint at Sega, joining the one-time console manufacturer in the wake of its acquisition of Creative Assembly and Sports Interactive, when Sega began the transition to becoming a successful PC publisher. Over the course of the next decade, Schall was able to equip himself with all the tools and experience needed to establish a well-resourced publisher with the indie credentials that Secret Mode has successfully squirreled away.
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