One of the most popular puzzles of last year – the Ruzzle game – today, May 22, has a sequel – Ruzzle Adventure. Editor-in-Chief App2Top.ru I caught the authors of the project from MAG Interactive at the Nordic Game 2014 conference currently taking place in Sweden and asked about how the game was being developed.
The questions were answered by Johan Persson, executive producer of MAG Interactive.Hello, Johan!
Tell me, how many people worked on the project? Hi!
In total, nine people worked on Ruzzle Adventure: four programmers, three artists, a producer and one tester. We started doing it with a small team, expanded it in the process.
I know that you just had a worldwide release, but was there a softlonch?Look, at the end of September 2013 we had a prototype ready, for Christmas we launched the game in New Zealand.
However, at that time it was, rather, still alpha. Two months ago, a real softlatch took place in Sweden.
And why in Sweden?For us, this is a home market, in addition, Swedish players differ little from players in other Western countries.
In our home market, we received several hundred thousand downloads, collected analytics, conducted A/B testing, and changed the game based on the results obtained. Today we are launching it for the whole world.
How does the novelty differ from the original?The first part was pure PvP.
We wanted to keep that, but also make an interesting single. But it so happened that Ruzzle Adventure is, like, an alternative to the classic Ruzzle.
By the way, how many downloads does the first part have?The first part received 50 million downloads worldwide.
We honestly did not expect such a success
And for money?Last year alone, we earned $15 million, $10 million of which was profit.
Have you already started developing other games after the completion of Ruzzle Adventure?Yes, there are other games in development now, all at different stages, perhaps we will release another one by the end of the year.
I see, thanks for the interview!Recall that Ruzzle was the first MAG Interactive game.
The Swedes released it in 2012, but it gained real popularity only in 2013. At the end of last year, Nokia’s venture fund, Nokia Growth Partners, invested $6 million in MAG Interactive. In total, the company now employs 31 people, plus another 10 people on outsourcing. The studio is based in Stockholm.