As you now invested in classic game IPs, what criteria do you use to select which titles to publish for a new generation of gamers? Currently we own the IP for the games 3D Tank Duel, Starstrike and Starstrike 2. All three were produced by Realtime Software back in the 80s. I had the opportunity to ask Ian Oliver if he was interested in selling the IP for the games – it felt at the time a natural thing to ask as I had got to know Ian over the years. And so, the deal was done – it was very spontaneous. I am not looking to acquire any more IP, although I am working with David Jones on a new Magic Knight trilogy and Sandy White on Ant Attack 2.
How has the community response shaped Fusion Retro’s direction, especially with such a passionate fanbase for titles like Crash and Zzap!64? Social media has helped immensely in bringing fans of the old magazines together – we have Facebook groups for both Crash and Zap!64 and they are both very healthy, engaged groups with 1000s of members. If we plan to do something with Crash or Zzap! 64 then we post into the respective groups and we always receive amazing feedback and direction. We are always looking at what is happening in the
broader scene. With the launch of the Spectrum Next for example, and the engagement of the fans of the system within the Spectrum Next group of Facebook, it seemed a natural progression to create a Next magazine that has been accepted extremely well.
It’s rare to see a magazine publisher move into game development these days. Was it something you’d always wanted to do, or an opportunity you couldn’t pass up? What do you hope to achieve? Over the many years of Fusion Retro Books, and the Kickstarter campaigns we have run, there have been several Commodore C64 and Spectrum games specific to the campaign. SIZZLER comes to mind for the Commodore 64 and Oure of the Spectrum. We have also published many of The Oliver Twins NES games that never made it to market – Pogie and Mystery World Dizzy for example. So, it has always been an area I have dabbled in. With the Spectrum Next, it seemed like an
opportunity to develop and publish some games from scratch. I spoke with Simon Butler and David ‘Sonic’ Clarke about doing a game around the ‘Crash Towers’ and that game is called O (short for Oli). With the events, I have become friends with Tony Warriner (Beneath a Steel Sky) and Stoo Cambridge – we came up with an idea for a Gauntlet-type dungeon explorer
“Launching Crash and Zzap!64 as bi-monthly magazines was a risk, but they have proved to be hugely popular”
that we are calling URBX Warriors – we plan to release this on the Spectrum Next, Steam and a number of other retro platforms, including the Dreamcast. Another favourite Spectrum game of mine is Ant Attack, so it only seemed logical (to me anyway) to persuade its creator, Sandy White, to write Ant Attack 2 for the Spectrum Next – and so he is, with Fusion Retro publishing. It’s all proving to be a lot of fun at the moment.
The Spectrum Next - the crowdfunded evolution of the iconic Sinclair home computer - is such a tiny market - 20,000 machines at most - it hardly seems worthwhile. Is it? Even though it’s small compared to the PC community, the Next community is very active and passionate. With that in mind, selling to a small community is worthwhile for everyone involved in a game’s production. We are looking at converting the games we produce to the PC and other platforms as well to boost sales. With the likes of O, we can use the Next Emulator CSPECT - developed by Lemmings developer Mike Dailly - to run it on Steam. With URBX Warriors, a PC and Next version of the game are being developed in tandem. Paul Hughes (Ocean Software) is currently working on 3D Tank Duel for the Next – the plan is to do a souped-up version for a Steam release.
What else can we expect from Fusion Retro in the coming years as you continue to evolve both your publishing efforts and investment in classic IP? The plan is ‘more of the same’. Keep producing our magazines – Fusion, Crash, Zzap!64, Sega Force and Next. Publish more and more retro books that the fans of Fusion Retro Books love. Take each of the events, Crash Live & Zzap! Live, to the next level – more guests, take it to 2-days, bigger venues etc! 2025 will see our suite of games released onto the
Next, Steam and other retro platforms. We will see how they perform, then hopefully plan the next wave of games to go into development. Exciting times.
October/November 2024 MCV/DEVELOP | 49
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