Wisconsin's game makers meet

Published on: 4/8/2009

The Madison chapter of the International Game Developer's Association met not so long ago, and John Bergman, the CEO of Guild Software in Milwaukee, was among the professionals attending to hear Eric Francksen of Frozen Codebase in Green Bay talk about one of his studio's latest games. Bergman, whose company publishes and runs a small-scale massively multiplayer online game called Vendetta Online, answered some questions after attending the meeting and shared his insights afterward:

Q. From the discussions you had at the IGDA event, did you notice any trends in game design or the business of games in Wisconsin that you'd like to highlight?

A. During the event, Frozen Codebase demonstrated their latest title, "Sandy Beach," a downloadable WiiWare sandcastle-building game for ages 6 and up. This sort of game does illustrate a recent trend towards simpler games with shorter development cycles, which has in part been enabled by the digital delivery mechanisms available on modern console systems. I think this kind of evolution is fantastic, and will hopefully lead towards more diverse titles being green lit by publishers for development. Digital delivery mechanisms remove the traditional brick-and-mortal "retail" aspects of shipping a game, which involve both significant hassles and expenses. Ten years ago, the shipment of a game with any serious expectation of sales required space on retail shelves. This, in effect, led to retailers and distributers wielding a great deal of control over what games made it to market. If Wal-Mart was not interested in selling a particular title, the publisher would often cancel development, as Wal-Mart represented such a huge percentage of their sales potential. Now, with more direct-delivery systems becoming prevalent, it's more up to the marketplace of actual gamers to determine what sells and what does not. These delivery systems are still in their infancy on consoles, and there is a long way to go, but I'm happy to see the direction things are taking.

Q. How useful are these IGDA meetings for you as a game developer and for Guild Software as a company? Aside from networking, do you take any lessons away from these gatherings that improve you as a professional and benefit your company?

A. It's a great opportunity to talk with other developers in the same industry, which isn't that frequent of an experience for us. Usually we have to fly out to major industry gatherings in Los Angeles or San Francisco in order to talk to other developers. Many of our local-region IGDA members develop very different types of games -- PC-MMO versus console versus educational and so on -- but a lot of the challenges we face as businesses are quite similar, and the exchange of ideas can be helpful.

Q. Your companies make very different kinds of games. Were you able to take anything away from their experience? Is there anything specific you'd like to highlight?

A. It's always fascinating to see developers working on other platforms, or even doing things differently on the same platforms we use. Getting an insider view of another company's experiences in taking on a new platform can be particularly useful. We're historically PC developers, but we still keep an eye on the prospect of console portability for our title, or as a platform for new titles. From another point of view, it's useful to see the types of games that people are shipping. We're an MMO development house, we've been building our game and engine for over a decade. It's refreshing to see people like Frozen Codebase releasing titles on very short development cycles, as little as six months.

Q. What is your opinion of Nintendo's Wii as a development platform? Do you have any interest in expanding your game development efforts to other systems?

A. The Wii looks like a fascinating platform, and Frozen Codebase related a positive experience of shipping a WiiWare title. Every platform has its pros and cons, but to an outsider (a PC developer) the Wii looks like a great system for more lightweight games that can make compelling use of the unique controllers. Our current game can be somewhat hardware-intense, so the Wii might be a challenging port. But it is a possibility for future titles, especially as the digital delivery mechanics continue to evolve.

Q. Are there any people from Wisconsin game studios who you always look forward to seeing at these IGDA meetings?

A. Yes indeed, the social aspect is really great. As far as we know, we're the only professional game development company in Milwaukee, and for many years we only interacted with other industry people at distant gatherings. Between these trips, there was a tendency to feel a bit like we were working in a "vacuum", as far as interacting with other developers. Now we have the opportunity to meet up with friends from Human Head, Frozen Codebase and others, on a regular basis.

Q. Finally, there have been discussions in the state for years of building the electronic gaming industry in Wisconsin to a point where it becomes a business growth cluster, similar to biotechnology. Were there any discussions at the most recent meeting about these ongoing efforts? Do you think it's possible to grow game development in Wisconsin so it reaches that level?

A. We have definitely discussed this topic at past meetings, although not recently. I do think it's possible to enhance Wisconsin's position as an attractive locale for growth in the game development space, via both financial incentives (tax breaks, etc) and other methods. The low cost of living has always been a major benefit to us, compared to many of our friends in the industry who work in high-priced locations like San Francisco or Santa Monica. For a software startup, the ability to keep a low financial "overhead" can be the difference between success and failure. Plus, there are a lot of really bright people available in the Wisconsin workforce; if I recall, Frozen Codebase hired almost all of their staff from within the state.

Q. Was there any specific "buzz" at the last meeting regarding the stability of the games industry because of the economy?
A. I haven't personally heard very much, one way or the other. Thus far, we haven't noticed a significant drop off in the MMO space.

A screen shot from "Sandy Beach," a game for the Nintendo Wii made by Frozen Codebase, which is based in Green Bay. Photo by John Bergman of Guild Software.

Eric Francksen of Frozen Codebase chats up the crowd at a meeting of the Madison chapter of the International Game Developer's Association. Photo by John Bergman of Guild Software.