Q&A: INTROVERSION: STILL IN POSSESSION OF ITS I.P.

[You can read part one -- a chat with Chris Bateman of Fantasy Labs here and part two -- about the mass re-emerging of the bedroom coder -- here.]

This month, we talked to Introversion, one of the most prolific and respected indie developers out there, known for developing the IGF 2006-winning game "Darwinia," the well-received DEFCON, and the upcoming "Multiwinia."

Still independent and still in possession of their original I.P., they're putting the finishing touches on "Multiwinia," a multiplayer expansion to "Darwinia," and working on their long-awaited fourth project, "Subversion."

Tom Arundel, commercial director, Chris Delay, creative director, and Vicky Arundel, marketing and PR director, were on-hand to answer our questions:

DAM: Can you describe the process of getting your first game out?

Introversion: The games industry is a pretty unforgiving place for a startup -- you need strong, original ideas and the courage of your convictions. We knew we had both, but we were initially clueless about how to go about getting our game into the shops and into the magazine review pages, so a lot of it was down to trial-and-error.

We started out by setting up a Web site and mail-order service and seeding a few forums about our first game, "Uplink." The game, a sim about the dangerous world of professional computer hacking, really captured the imaginations of an underground gaming audience and, as word-of-mouth quickly spread and our store profits soared, we decided to take the next step and launch into the high street.

Our first attempts were somewhat comic not knowing who to contact, we walked into a popular high-street store and tried to pitch "Uplink" to the cashier. A little surprised, he passed us on to the store manager who suggested we got in touch with the head office. We ended up signing a high-street deal with distributor Pinnacle in the UK, with later European retail releases to follow, although none of these deals were as lucrative as the initial high sales we were making on our own Web site.

We learned a lot about marketing in the process, realizing that, with our limited resources, we were better off sticking with less-conventional methods of spreading the word and forging strong contacts with the press so that our games would be reviewed in as many different places as possible.

DAM: How did you all pay the rent while working on the game?

Introversion: We were quite lucky that Chris had started making “Uplink,” our first title, when we were all at the university so our first game was made without the need for funding. When we graduated, we had a virtually completed product ready to sell. All we needed to do was invested about £200 each (£600 in total), enough to pay for the ink cartridges and printers needed to kick-start our first in-house production run. “Uplink” was a great commerical success; we made about 100K in around four months and, as young entrepreneurs, we thought we'd fallen well and truly on our feet. Thinking that this rapid cash injection was sure to continue (and forgetting that a game's shelf-life is at maximum about six months), we were perhaps too free in our company spending.

Needless to say, the next three years was a long and painful wait for the release of our second game, “Darwinia.” All the directors ended up signing onto benefits as the cashflow plummeted and we started selling off most of our stuff on eBay to try and make ends meet. We learned our lesson and were much more careful with the launches of “Darwinia” and “DEFCON.” It's crucial that the money we make from each game release pays for the next game development and launch, and the launch of “Darwinia” on Steam virtually funded the whole of the “DEFCON” project. Its an expensive process; as we have slowly expanded, our monthly burn-rate is about 30K so the success of the next game becomes more and more vital.

DAM: If you were to do it all over again, what would you change?

Introversion: We'd be far more careful with our cash management; the yacht we rented in LA after E3 was great, but it would have paid for a month's rent! We'd also have been much faster in the retail uptake; we waited too long between retail releases in different countries and the shelf-life of the game wasn't long enough. Other than that, there’s just general stuff that you learn in the pursuit of developing a business. As you go along, you get better at selling, financing, and marketing.

DAM: What do you think are the current problems facing the games business?

Introversion: There's a perception among many people that photorealism is the key to success and untold wealth. There is definitely a large market for it, but there's an even larger market for games that are simply games, meaning that you play them not because you want to be immersed, but because they evoke an emotion that you like. I was careful not to say “fun” there because increasingly we think there's an opportunity to make games that evoke all sorts of emotions, just as in music.

This means it can be hard for smaller teams like us to do what we do, but it is becoming easier. The advent of digital distribution makes it much easier to transact with customers directly which ultimately means that we need fewer sales at a higher margin to make it through to the next game. It also removes the barriers to distribution that have sometimes prevented more innovative games from finding an audience.

DAM: How would you advise someone new to independent development to succeed in the field?

Introversion: Use your common sense. Keep things cheap until you have cash coming in to your account. Set and understand your expectations. If you're a team of five, don't try and make a first-person shooter; you’ll fail on nearly every metric that could be used to define success. Instead, focus on doing something new that could be equally immersive like we did with “Uplink” and “DEFCON.” It will earn you much more respect among your peers and also you'll find it easier to generate an audience of customers. Other than that, ignore the pessimists, Just give it a go while you have the chance.

DAM: What did you think of this years entrants in the IGF? Any favorites?

Introversion: From what we saw, the overall quality was fantastic. It reminds us that there are other indie companies out there doing exactly what we are doing -- creating original games -- and that gives us hope for the games industry. The winning game, “Aquaria,” really looks lovely. They’ve got a wonderful art style to their work, and the quality of their presentation overall is top notch.

DAM: Who do you think are unsung heroes in the business and why?

Introversion: I don't know about unsung, but the guys writing “Little Big Planet” are just phenominal. I watched their GDC presentation and the video they released showing their game, and my jaw was basically on the floor the whole time. Thanks to their founder, they have a hilarious visual style. What excites me most about what they're doing is the concept of sharing content with other users, and building your own levels and components. It's been done before on the PC, but map editors and scenario editors are usually extremely difficult and cumbersome to use, and there is rarely a reliable method of distributing your finished work to other players. With “Little Big Planet,” it looks like they've solved those problems, and made the act of creation a ton of fun and a real part of the game, rather than something for the extreme hardcore.

DAM: Finally, let’s discuss your next game, “Multiwinia.” How would you describe it to an 8-year-old?

Introversion: “Multiwinia” is a multiplayer expansion to the world of “Darwinia.” You build your Darwinian armies and wage war upon your fellow players.

We're aiming for a series of short and brutal multiplayer minigames, which can be played out over five or 10 minutes each. One example we are working on right now is King Of The Hill; you score a point for every Darwinian controlled by you in one of the target zones. As you can imagine, those zones can become absolute blood baths, with each player trying to assert ownership. Above all, we are trying to build a multiplayer game that is more about fast brutal fun rather than a long drawn-out, real-time strategy game.

DAM: Anything else you’d like to mention?

Introversion: We’re working on a lot of new and exciting projects here, such as our fourth game, “Subversion.” Over the next few months, we’ll be announcing some fantastic new developments. Keep an eye on our company blog for all the ins and outs of the work we do, and to get a snapshot of what really goes on behind the scenes at Introversion.