1 Year of Sun Turns a Developer into an Entrepreneur

June marks 1 year since I packed up, left my corn-fed Indiana life, and moved to the Tucson desert to make games for Sony.  I had the chance to ship one game with Sony, which was an outstanding experience.  But unfortunately, the Facebook landscape changed enough during development that the virallity of our game (wildlife refuge) did not stand a chance and we ended up in the red.  Turns out, our game wasn't the only one struggling at Sony Online Entertainment and the Tucson studio was closed back in April (along with Seattle and Denver).

Soooo.  Why am I still in the desert?

Good question.

Besides the perpetual sun, lack of tornadoes, and beautiful mountains, I also found a job here.  I use the term 'job' loosely here as most jobs typically pay money... ;)

Myself and 4 colleagues started a game studio we dubbed Kihon.

I am very excited to be a partner in this adventure into the world of indie development.  I do not think I could have found a more talented, passionate, and enjoyable group to collaborate with.  Follow our antics on twitter here.

Nuff of the mushy stuff.  I plan on writing more on Kihon.  Feel free to drop any questions below... What would you like to know about making mobile games, about starting a studio, etc.   I'll try to be as transparent as possible.

Cheers for reading!

Wildlife Refuge: SOE Tucson's Latest Facebook Endeavor

I haven't been able to speak much about what I have been doing at Sony since I joined in June.  Our game was tightly under wraps until our quiet beta release this past November.  After a month of bug fixing and additional features I think its finally time to dust off the keyboard and try to put a couple sentences together about the game.

The first question I always get when I mention if I am working on a Facebook game is...   Is it like Farmville?     I dislike Zynga... I dislike their practices (towards customers and employees) and I dislike the 'spaminess' of their games.  Therefore, I cringe whenever I get thrown in the same lot... but to answer the question, yes... looking at it from the big picture it is kinda like Farmville.  They are both on the facebook platform, they both use isometric engines, they both involve tending/caring for things, they both allow you to decorate/personalize your space, and they both rely on helping and interacting with your friends.  

So yeah, our game falls into the Farmville genre... BUT OUR GAME IS DIFFERENT DAMMIT! ;)

Our game, Wildlife Refuge, drops you into the African Savannah and tasks you with helping the native ecosystem.  You get to explore the terrain in your jeep (Away3D) in hopes of finding and rescuing rare animals which you can take to your refuge to nurse back to health.  You can assist your friends through gifts, neighbor visits, and best of all... Animal Mating!  I'll let you check that last one out for yourself... :)  

I've really enjoyed being a part of this project, more so than I think I would have enjoyed a typical facebook game, since it has some noble/rewarding goals.  We are tied to non-profit charities (ex: Cheetah Foundation) and thus some of the money you spend on the game can go to a good cause (besides helping pay my rent).  We also have a fair amount of educational content in the game to help players learn about the African ecosystem.

I am going to shy away from going into details about the game's development and design decisions at this point and plan on touching on those points in a post mortem down the road.  Right now the game is very much alive.  We are fielding bug reports/feature requests from our player base while trying to improve our virality, stickiness, and overall profitability. 

We have gotten some very positives reviews (4.7 out of 5!) as well as some nice accolades (top 10 facebook games released this year).  However, the last line of the InsideSocialGames article shows that there is much room for improvement: "Sadly, despite how well-made the game is, it only has 58,000 MAU."  

I'll touch more on that in the post mortem, but for now I am going to enjoy my remaining holiday before I jump back into trying to help this baby get off the ground.  As for you, take a minute and check out our game: Wildlife Refuge.  

New Job. New State. Still Ugly.

Besides a study abroad stint in London, I've never lived outside of Indiana. Right now I am typing while sitting on the floor (I have no chairs... or table for that matter) in Tucson Arizona. I accepted a job with Sony Online Entertainment and begin working full time tomorrow.

What does Sony want with a Flash Developer? Well, there is a huge gold rush for Flash based games in Facebook/social media. Google Flash Game jobs and you will get hits from Zynga/Playdom still growing, EA/Sony making the transition, and a plethora of startups trying to make their mark. And let me stop you right there before you mention farmville or mafia wars. I am sure some projects I work on will have similar features that many indie develops scuff at; however, it is my belief that the projects I will work on will have a bit more meat and strategy involved. At this point I should be very clear that this post and every post here-after are just my thoughts/opinions/etc. They in no way represent Sony. Just me rambling and spouting off.

I think that covers my bases. If you are in the Phoenix/Tucson area, hit me up. I am still trying to get a feel for the Flash & Gaming networks out here.