Tim Willits’ Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 is the talk of the town right now. This third-person hack-n-slash shooter has just been released, and in this short period of time has gathered a huge player base. This game is a direct sequel to Space Marine (2011) which surfaced over a decade ago.
Now it was a great challenge to fulfill all the expectations regarding the legacy that has been carried since its predecessor, and that too in an era when games are becoming more and more expensive. The studio personnel of Saber Interactive has shared their views on how to become successful even in these adverse scenarios, especially for North American developers.
Space Marine 2‘s Tim Willits Talks About the Problems With North American Developers
The stakes are way higher right now in the gaming industry. We have seen how huge companies like Microsoft had to go through numerous cost-cutting norms to make things sustainable. They even went on to shut down three of their long-hailed gaming studios.
Right now the gaming industry is in turmoil, and games are hugely expensive. Hence, this is what Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2‘s developing studio Saber Interactive’s Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits told about the current scenarios (via GamesBeat):
As games become more and more expensive, you’ll see traditional North American developers struggling. A lot of these big companies work on one project at a time. We have no teams that work on one game at a time. Really understanding what scope means. If you work on a game for four months and you decide for some reason to change direction–sometimes you burn millions.
The one huge mistake most of the North American developers commit, save for few like Saber and Bethesda, is to focus and spend the majority of the capital only on a single project. That’s why they have to continue spending loads on that single project to make that survive because this is all they have.
For example, giving all the effort and money on a single project and months later seeing that the project is not worthy at all is the final pin on the coffin for developing studios like these.
The Mantra to Survive: Focusing on the Core
Now companies like Saber don’t fall on that list. Because they always believe in engaging multiple teams on multiple projects simultaneously. With this, you have multiple paths to go through if one of them fails.
And according to Willits, the company has always believed in focusing on the core aspect. This is what he stated:
We made SnowRunner for not that much money, and it has made a ridiculous return. We focused on the core. A game can have a $5 million, $20 million, or $200 million budget. If you focus on the core and you make that fun, it can be successful for you. That’s one thing I definitely learned coming to Saber. It took a while.
The working culture in Saber is quite unique as well. In this company, none of them is exclusive to any certain project, as the rotation process in the company is quite emphasized.
For instance, as Space Marine 2 is just out, now people from that project will be shifted to Saber’s upcoming projects like Jurassic Park Survival or Toxic Commando.
What’s your opinion of Willits’ comments? Share your thoughts with us.
