The recent shift of talent from traditional game studios to upstart social game developers is almost as striking as the growth of social games themselves versus the traditional game audience. It may not be a flash in the pan either but a long-term trend. Jonathan Knight is one of those developers who took the leap last year. Jonathan shares his experiences, reflecting on the opportunities and challenges in making the jump into social games in this interview with LOGIN News and in his upcoming talk at LOGIN 2011, ‘Jump In, the Water Is Fine’: The Talent Migration to Social.
PAUL PHILLEO: Hi, Jonathan, thanks for taking the time for an interview. Can you give us a quick introduction into your background in the games industry and your work with RockYou?
JONATHAN KNIGHT: I come from traditional (or “establishment”) games. I worked at several major publishers including Interplay, Activision, and Electronic Arts. I worked in traditional gaming for over 15 years and thoroughly enjoyed all the projects that I was fortunate enough to be involved with! I produced and directed for top franchises, including Star Trek, Quake, Wolfenstein, and The Simpsons. I also was a key creative and production lead for The Sims 2 and was the creator of Dante’s Inferno. Recently I became very interested in the growing and rapidly evolving social games space, and I joined RockYou last fall. Social games bring new challenges to the table so I’m excited to be moving in a new direction.
Why do you feel prominent game developers have made their move from traditional games to social game studios? What does this trend signify to the game industry as a whole?
Facebook games have introduced a whole new audience to gaming. I think developers who have traditionally worked on AAA titles are excited about taking on new design challenges and enjoy the opportunity to create games for a larger mainstream audience. In social gaming, the development cycles are much shorter, so it gives developers the chance to experiment with more ideas. A social game developer can design more titles in their career than a traditional game developer who may be tied to one concept for several years. Also, the production value of social games is going up. I feel that social gaming is the future of gaming, not just a trend in the industry, and it is exciting to be involved as the industry makes this shift.
What types of skills and experience does a traditional game developer bring to a social game development studio that a social games developer might not?
Traditional game developers can introduce a new perspective and bring different experiences to the table than that of a developer who has focused solely on social games. For example, former traditional game developer, John Romero’s first Facebook game, Ravenwood Fair, gained popularity soon after its release on the social media platform; it was praised for introducing role-playing game elements to the social gaming space.
Assuming the migration of key traditional developers to social game studios continues, what effect could this have on the creative output from studios on the traditional and social sides of the fence?
In the long run, it’s going to be very good for the games industry, because designers learn by getting games out the door, and with the new social platform, designers can get a lot more games out than they’ve been able to over the last decade. We’re back to quick development cycles, and that means quick learning cycles for game designers, who thrive on audience feedback.
Many traditional gamers are concerned about a slow death to traditional console games. Is this concern justified? What might a “hardcore game” look like a two to three years from now?
The gaming universe will become increasingly divided between premium and freemium. I don’t foresee a “death” in console gaming but rather a consolidation around fewer, more extreme AAA experiences that compete with Hollywood for jaw-dropping production values, staggering budgets, and lengthy development cycles. These games will be around for a while, as will freemium social and mobile games. It’s everything in the middle that’s going to get squeezed out.
It’s sometimes reported in various media pieces how there is tension between traditional, big-budget game developers and the upstart developers of often more simple social games. Will this developer migration help or hurt the cause of creating mutual understanding on both sides of the equation?
It can only help. As the talent cross-pollinates, there will be greater acceptance and understanding. From my perspective, this is all about games; it’s about entertaining players with fun interactive experiences, and that has always (and always will) take on various shapes and sizes.
In an interview, Tadhg Kelly, COO at Simple Lifeforms, felt that “many of the big-name social developers of a couple of years ago seem to have stalled, but the next generation of the games themselves is not quite here yet.” Do you agree with this thought, and if so, what opportunity does it represent for game developers of all kinds?
I do agree with that. After the “round one” was over in this social game boxing match, there was a collective pause, and many asked the question “what happens next?” And that’s what I love about game designers and experienced game-makers. That question doesn’t bother them. They say, “Follow us, we know what happens next. We’ve seen this movie before.”
Lastly, what do you hope attendees will take away from your talk at LOGIN this year?
I am talking about how the landscape of social game design is shifting as the talent pool from the traditional gaming space shifts to the social gaming side. We can expect to see the creation of higher-quality social games in the near future and a new type of gameplay experience. I think people underestimate the potential of social games, and I hope to energize and excite attendees about the opportunities that lie ahead in the industry as top talent shifts to focus on developing social games and experiments with the genre.
