The main advantage of working with games under popular licenses is not that IP brings traffic. Another thing is much more important: they retain the audience. This is the opinion of Jon Radoff, CEO of Disruptor Beam studio, which developed Game of Thrones: Ascent, Star Trek: Timelines and the recent The Walking Dead: March to War.
John Radoff
“People are often sure that the reason we make games under licenses is to attract users with recognizable names.
Of course, it helps, but it’s not enough to create a successful game. The real reason for developing games in these worlds is retention. If someone really wants to live in Westeros or visit the Star Trek universe, they have a very limited choice where to go if they reject the product,” John said in an interview with GamesIndustry.
At the same time, it is very important that the game’s semantic content does not go against the ideas that were embedded in the work that built the brand.
“We put a lot of effort into authenticity, into maintaining fidelity to the source material. It’s not just about transferring the plot and characters into the game, but also about finding out what is the center of the franchise, and then figuring out which game systems need to be brought into the game so that it matches the IP.”
As an example, John cited the development history of Game of Thrones: Ascent. He contacted George R.R. Martin, the author of a series of original novels, and asked him what his work was really about. Martin formulated that politics and how different characters interact with each other are at the center of all his stories.
“This meant that to create a truly authentic game, it had to be about politics and its implementation. That’s why we built game systems around weddings and engagements. Participation in alliances was very important and [adding] multiplayer aspects in which players can unite and betray each other was our choice in terms of creating a game true to IP,” John explained.
Disruptor Beam extends this approach to all its products. In Star Trek: Timelines, they made the game not about fighting or brutality, but about exploring the world and solving problems.
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