Interview: Publisher X and Capybara

Fri, Jul 25, 2008

Some time ago, we editors of GameCyte had a disagreement about the future of gaming on the iPhone, and whether it was destined for glory or a modest niche. Whatever the future may hold, a number of game companies, large and small, have now entered the iPhone gaming space, and are relying on the experiences provided by the many digital distribution platforms now available to gamers worldwide. One such company is Publisher X, which formed only two weeks ago with a goal of providing games exclusively through digital delivery, and they're setting their sights on iPhone games to start.

We spoke with Doug Kennedy of Publisher X, and Tom Frencel & Kris Piotrowski of Capybara, a developer now working under the Publisher X label, and discussed the highs and lows of getting your game noticed in a hot new marketplace... and how it stacks up to the other established avenues of online publication.

GameCyte: Tell me about Publisher X.

CC Title Publisher X: Publisher X is a video game distribution company. We're a publisher that focuses on the digitally-distributed titles: Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, WiiWare, and right now we're focused on the Apple iPhone.

GC: You announced your formation on July 10th. How long has Publisher X actually been in the works?

PX: For about six months. We got together with Reverb Communications and Flashman Studios, and we put a plan together to build a publisher that was going to be able to support developers. For about six months, we started planning to go forward with a launch that would take place this Fall.

In that time frame, we were approached by Apple Computers, and they revealed some of their plans for what they were going to do with gaming on the iPhone and the iPod Touch. So, when we learned about what Apple had in the works, we decided to accelerate our plans and come out with a launch in July. If you've ever launched a company, or ever worked on a project where you have a timeline set in place -- we were looking at October for our initial launch -- and all of a sudden, you accelerate it by four months, it really gets everyone to scramble pretty quickly. We moved very fast, but we're really happy with the results for Publisher X, and for the developers that we've been working with.

GC: So Apple approached you about working with the iPhone.

PX: Yeah, they did. We have a relationship with the folks over at Apple, and through Reverb, we had work that we'd done with Harmonix, and MTV, and Red Octane, so they were aware of the type of work that we'd done on different accounts and different projects. I think one of the things that Apple looked at was, they knew they were going to open the SDK up, and they were going to have hundreds, if not thousands, of games that were going to come in. They wanted to make sure they had a level of support for those titles, where developers and publishers weren't going to be specifically leaning on Apple to support the platform, or to support the games. So, they wanted to talk with us about our plans, knowing that we would be able to offer a tremendous amount of public relations and marketing support for the titles. That would really take some pressure off of Apple, having to go in and answer the thousands of developers, and they wanted to make sure that they were able to get a stable of developers that would offer up great content, but also be able to support that content with a PR initiative.

GC: You mentioned having worked with Reverb; is this your first experience with a publishing company? Has it all been public relations up to this point?

PX: I'm one of the founders of Reverb and Publisher X, so I work on both sides of the fence. Now, I'm dedicating almost all of my time to Publisher X at this point.

One of the nice parts about having been on the PR and marketing side is that I've been able to work with some really large publishers and some small publishers, and I've taken a very holistic view of the way that they approach the industry. I've been able to see things that have worked, and things that haven't worked, and we bring all of those elements into Publisher X when we work on the platform, and the titles.

GC: What attracted you to digital distribution as an exclusive medium?

CC1 PX: It's the growing element in the industry. I think that we've seen what's happened with Xbox Live Arcade, with PlayStation Network, and with WiiWare -- we just did an interview where somebody called it "casual gaming for digital distribution," and I think there is some element of that, that might be casual right now, but I think the industry as a whole recognizes that it's a great distribution medium, for developers and publishers alike. You're able to get a game developed, and then do drops and updates, and offer various elements to the game that you can't do when you print the game onto a disc. So we took a look at the industry as a whole, and looked at the growth from digital over the last couple of years with the advent of things like Steam and the different consoles that were moving into the space, and realized that this was really the growth area in the industry. While we may be a little early at this stage, I'd rather be here early and grow into it than come to the party late.

GC: What particularly drew you to the iPhone as a publishing platform?

PX: A lot of the folks that we talk to look at the iPhone as being another extension of the cellphone market. "Oh, yeah, it's just another mobile gaming carrier, and mobile gaming platform." If you take a look at the way that the iPhone offers up graphics, offers up a variety of features such as touch-screens, and things like that -- I look at it as more of an extension of the console. Because it's a communication device that you use for phone conversation, people get that connotation that it's a mobile device. It's really on par with PSP and DS, so we looked at it as being a perfect platform for us to announce our company.

GC: What strengths do you feel the iPhone has, as a gaming device, over handhelds like the DS or the PSP?

PX: There's a lot of strengths from the PR and marketing side that we look at, in terms of the way Apple has an army of consumers that gravitate towards new products and new product launches, but I'm going to throw that question over to the Capybara folks, because they were able to develop on the platform and get a game going. I think they can speak a little bit better to their experience in developing Critter Crunch on that platform.

Capybara: For us, we sort of came from the mobile development market, if you will. We started making cellphone games, and we have transitioned the company since, to make console games, and we're currently in this transitional period right now. With the iPhone, I think, it's a weird kind of cross-breed between a cellphone and console. In terms of its capabilities, it really is on par with the DS, in terms of some of its parameters... graphically, memory-wise, the type of sound and music that you can do in games. Apple has done a great job actually creating a compelling console for games, but it is still packaged within this multi-functional device. So, from a game development perspective, the Critter Crunch experience is much closer to a console experience than a cellphone experience, when you play the game. The visual effects that we have put in the game, the music and sound effects, the entire package and the way it's put together, are really above and beyond what any cellphone can do.

GC: What about other dedicated handheld gaming devices? What particularly suits these games for play on the iPhone where they might not be suited for, say, the PSP?

C: I think the touch-screen offers some great opportunities towards what kinds of games you can create. For example, in a turn-based strategy game, it may be much closer to the keyboard/mouse interface, because you can actually interact with all the pieces on your screen in a much more effective manner than you can with D-pad control. I think there are games that can be played better on the PSP, but there are certain games that can be designed specifically for the iPhone, which I think can offer a very specific experience, and can actually surpass the console experience in some elements. Especially when you talk about getting into the location-based stuff -- for example, the iPhone has GPS capabilities, so integrating that into your games, and integrating some of the other elements that it has, like the accelerometer, for example. It does offer some of the things that PSP and DS don't offer; having said that, I still think that there is a tremendous strength that DS and PSP have, also, over the iPhone, being dedicated console machines.

GC: Returning to the publishing standpoint for just a moment, how does the process differ, publishing a game for the iPhone, as opposed to other digital formats?

PX: I think that the relationship we have with Apple -- it offers up a lot of opportunity for us, from a public relations and marketing standpoint. I also think that the way that they accept applications is a little bit different: When you look at the consoles, you have to go through an approval process to get the game ready to go up on the platform. With Apple and the iPhone, they're really opening this development cycle up to even the dorm-room developer, that's maybe sitting at his college and comes up with a great idea, and figures out how to program a game, and can just put it up on the platform. The difference is, having a publisher to work with Apple, and having a publisher to handle the public relations and marketing, really makes a difference between how that game gets elevated on the platform, to a game that consumers can learn and know about.

GC: If you've worked with the others, which network would you say provides the most favorable revenue model for publishers?

PX: That's a loaded question. *laughs* I think we all understand that Microsoft has made some adjustments to their digital distribution model, and they've adjusted down, they've adjusted up, and they've moved it around. I think there's a number of reasons that you'd want to work with all of the platforms. Microsoft, obviously, has a nice install base with the Xbox 360, and offers up a very nice ability to market your title through the Xbox Live Arcade arena. But I think we've also seen that PlayStation is making some huge strides, and really understands that this is a marathon. It's not about grabbing that consumer right up front and then letting them go, it's about getting that consumer onto the platform and growing that consumer through -- hopefully -- digital distribution. Wii is one that we've been looking at, and I think the Wii has been a nice introduction into the gaming space, in terms of getting people off the couch and getting them to play games in a different manner, but I think it's yet to be seen how WiiWare is going to be accepted by the development community.

GC: Would you say there are any advantages presented by the different networks, including the Apple Store, for newer, smaller, or more independent game publishers?

PX: The key advantage that I would look at is that it really allows the developers to take the development cycle of a title into their own hands, and not be completely beholden to a publisher. That may sound strange, coming from a person that owns a publisher, but I think that goes into the fabric of why we started Publisher X. A lot of the publishers in this industry nowadays try to find a way to negotiate a deal with a developer that is totally lopsided. The developers really offer the passion about the game; they offer the ideas and how they create the titles, and what they do is they develop the game. They're either funded by a publisher or not funded by a publisher, and even if they can develop the game on their own dollar, they'll go to a publisher, and the publisher will still take a majority, lion's share of that revenue, and I don't think that's fair. We started Publisher X with the notion of supporting these developers in the areas that they needed help with. I go back to public relations, marketing, first-party management, and support. It allows the developers to go and focus on developing the game. The publisher, at this point, on our side, would go back and get all of the pieces lined up to get the game ready to go to market, and we do so without having to take 85% of the developers' revenue. Doing it in a manner that makes sense for both sides, but offering that support on the digital platform that some developers just don't realize that they need.

GC: I'd like to pose that same question to the Capybara team, if I may. With digital distribution being seen as a means of empowering developers to bring their games to market directly, what is Publisher X bringing to the table for you?

C: I think, as Doug mentioned, there are really several elements that are needed for a successful game launch. There's the marketing and PR element, and the first-party management element, and that's what Publisher X offers for us that makes it attractive for us to work together.

GC: Tell me about the games you're offering. What makes them particularly suited to the iPhone?

C: Right now, we're only offering one game, and that's Critter Crunch, which is a puzzle game. It's actually a game that we originally developed for mobile, and we won a bunch of awards for it, so we thought it would make a really perfect fit, bringing it over to the iPhone and really giving it proper treatment on a device that has very few limitations, and a really nice tactile control scheme. We're hoping that what it provides to the iPhone is a fresh take on the puzzle genre, giving consumers a quality puzzle game that isn't what they're used to.

GC: Working through Publisher X, have you seen the proper kind of placement and response to your game that you were hoping for?

C: Yes, definitely. If you go on the App Store right now, pretty much in any country, you should see the Critter Crunch logo in the featured spot, and that is part of what Publisher X has done for the game. Whenever a store is launched with six hundred applications, you need a little bit of help to make sure that your game has visibility, and isn't just buried in the avalanche of apps that everybody's tossing up there every day. We're there, front and center, when you load up your phone and go into your App Store. If you search through iTunes on your computer, it's all there. That really does play a big role in building customer awareness... Critter Crunch is really an unknown game; it's not we're dealing with the perks that come with launching a game like Crash Bandicoot, or Super Monkey Ball, where customers are aware of the brand and it's a big, high-profile launch. For us, it's really about taking our game and bringing it to new customers, and that's something that Publisher X has delivered on.

GC: Tell me about the games you have planned for the future.

C: Right now, we're working on a version of the game for PSN, so that's going to be a whole new super-amazing version *laughs* of the Critter Crunch puzzle game. We're hoping to launch that in early 2009. We're bringing that to PSN through Sony, and we're also hoping to eventually expand the game and bring it to the PC as a casual downloadable, and also for Mac, as well.

GC: Which would you say is the easiest platform to develop for, in terms of these digital distribution mechanisms? Is it easier to develop for the iPhone, or Xbox -- which would you say has been the smoothest?

C: I think what's nice about developing for digitally distributed platforms like PSN, XBLA, or the iPhone, is that you only have to deal with one specific device, as opposed to -- we come from the cellphone development world, where you're dealing with literally hundreds of different SKUs, and sometimes the game you're developing is actually different, depending on the device that you develop it for. The nice thing about the iPhone or PlayStation games is that you know the specifications of the platform and you know what you have to adhere to, in order to have a successful development. So, that actually makes things a lot simpler.

Now, of course, when you're developing a PSN game, the expectations are quite different than when you're developing an iPhone game. Obviously, you're running the game on a big HDTV screen, you're running with possibly 5.1 surround sound; there's a lot more to it. But I would say our experience has been very positive on both the iPhone platform as well as the PlayStation Network.

GC: Do you think this is a pattern you're going to follow, where you stay primarily on the iPhone and then port your games to the other platforms?

C: No, definitely not. The company strategically looked at the various platforms... we don't necessarily identify franchises, or brands, or internal original IP that can be ported across to the different platforms. Rather, we take a look at the platform and then we get inspired by it, and then we develop something specific for that platform. Critter Crunch was actually a game that was developed specifically for the cellphone market, originally; it just so happened that it was also a game that ports very nicely across all the different platforms, but it was never our intent to say, "Hey, guys, let's develop this game and roll it out on as many platforms as possible." It happened that our game was very well-received by the market, and some reviewers even suggested, ahead of us, that it should be brought over to these downloadable platforms.

Looking at the iPhone and our strategy for that platform, we see it as a very exciting opportunity, a very capable device, and one that definitely presents a lot of creative opportunities for us. We'll be looking at it specifically, and developing ideas for it specifically. We'll be looking at the DS, for example, and PSN, and developing ideas specifically for those platforms, as well.

PX: I think Capybara's plans to bring the title to PSN were actually in place before we decided to take the title to iPhone. The iPhone development, just to go on record, was only eight weeks. From the time that the SDK was posted by Apple, to the time that we got our deal in place with Capybara and decided to move forward with the iPhone, there was an eight-week development cycle to go to launch.

GC: That's impressive. I believe you mentioned this earlier: Have you given any thought to digital delivery systems for the PC, such as Steam, or Impulse?

C: The nice thing about being a game developer now, in 2008, is that there's just so many opportunities, and so many platforms to evaluate. Our strategy has been to move on from cellphone development, and tackle platforms that are exciting and offer both financial and creative opportunities for us. And that's what we're doing. We're working on the DS, we're working on PSN, we're working on the iPhone. As far as the strategy is concerned, that's our current strategy, and that gets evaluated and revised constantly. So, if we feel there is a game idea that we have, or we see an opportunity to go with something on Steam, there won't be anything stopping us from doing that, but that's not currently on our agenda.

GC: What is the best advice you can give to publishers who are exploring digital delivery?

PX: One of the things I look at, from a top-down view of digital right now, is that these super-publishers -- you know who they are -- they're mega-mega-publishers that do billions and billions of dollars in revenue... they take a look at the digital space, and they have to apply so much overhead to get a game out the door. They have to pay for the lights being on. They have to pay for all of these various elements to have a team work on a digitally distributed title. The models just don't seem to be working for them, based on the sales numbers. For a publisher like us, we're a smaller company -- we don't have to pay a 30-person team of marketing people that are sitting around, waiting to launch a game, and waiting for that game to be ready. We're able to move in areas that these larger publishers cant move in, and most of our titles will be profitable right out of the gate. That's a challenge that I think these larger publishers are going to have in the digital space, until the install base really starts to adapt, and adopt, to the digital model.

GC: What is the best advice you can give to developers who are exploring digital delivery?

C: We've been talking a lot about the digital space, and I think the best advice is that it allows you to really be creative with your ideas, and really take risks. We have a pretty up-and-coming and flourishing independent development community here in Toronto, and there's been a lot of games that have been very successful, such as N+, and Everyday Shooter, for example, coming out of Toronto. Both of these games have taken risks, and I think that would be my advice: You can get creative with the games, you can take chances. That, in my opinion, is the best way to go about it on digitally distributed platforms, because it costs less to develop a game and in some cases, eliminates the huge overhead of packaged goods.

Another part of it is that everybody hopes digital delivery is something that will eventually return a little bit of power back to developers, so my advice is to be a little bit bolder with the deals you're getting. *laughs* It's changing the dynamic a little bit. At least, in theory.

We would like to thank Doug, Tom, and Kris for speaking with us. Critter Crunch is available now on iTunes and the iPhone App Store.