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An archived Hellgate: London feature. See the Hellgate Archives for more.

Interview: Bill Roper on his keynote speech at the 2005 GCDC event, consoles vs. PCs, the international market, selling to the non-core gamer audience.
Date: August 16, 2005
Source: German Game Developer's Conference (Link dead.)

GCDC Interview

Q: What is most interesting for you about this year’s GCDC?

Bill Roper: This is the first year I have really had the opportunity to travel to development conferences in other parts of the world. Learning what the interests and challenges are in each different development community not only gives me more insight into our industry as a whole, but also lets me share some of our US-based concepts with others. It is this exchange of issues, ideas and solutions that makes being a part of this year’s GCDC quite special.

Q: What is the topic of your keynote?

Bill Roper: “PC, Consoles and Mobile Gaming: Can’t We All Just Get Along?”
As with every release of a new breed of console systems, the death knell of PC games rings loudly. This was anything but true based on the showing of products at E3 here in the US, and as opposed to looking at how platforms are going to be eliminated, developers should be looking at how we can use all of the ways people like to play games to our mutual advantage.

Q:The story seems to play an important role in Flagship's first title Hellgate: London. How do you approach story-telling in order to make the player really immerse into the game? What makes a story work in a game context?

Bill Roper: Story-telling is always difficult in games because the key difference in our medium and those of books or television or film is that we are interactive. If you give players too much story without letting them be a part of it, the allure of gaming gets lost. A delicate balance has to be struck when mixing story and game play. As an industry, we have some fantastic tales to tell, but it still has to be done in the context of the fact that a game is being played, and it is the evolution of that experience that should be the driving force behind how the story is expressed.

Q: With the creation of ‘Starcraft: Ghost’ and the work on ‘Hellgate: London, you have direct comparison with the current technical features of both Xbox and PC. What is the main advantage of each system? How will the situation shift with the release of the Nextgen consoles?

Bill Roper: Actually, I had very little to do with StarCraft: Ghost, so my experience with the Xbox is more limited to that of an active player. I do think, however, that we saw a lot of PC developers jump to the Xbox specifically because of the similarities between it and the PC in terms of development tools and environment. Microsoft is pushing this even more with the 360, making it easier for PC developers to bring their games to the console and, presumable, for console developers to more readily make the jump to PC – at least from a technical standpoint. The universal controller concepts will also make this easier in terms of console to PC, but there is still so much that really only works well on a PC, I believe both platforms will enjoy healthy sales and will have their devoted gamers.

Q: How does work at Flagship Studios differ from work at Blizzard?

Bill Roper: Perhaps the biggest difference is in size and focus. Blizzard has grown into a massive, worldwide company, with close to 1,000 employees spread across numerous countrie. This is obviously a testament to the success of their games over the past decade. But one of the things that falls by the wayside when any company explodes in size is the ability to maintain a single, pure focus on a title. Also, you can honestly only have company cohesion when you are smaller. At Flagship, even though we have a well-seasoned core team and some of the best people in the industry, it is “us against the man”. We’re a tight-knit group that has something to prove, and that builds a very specific culture. While our resources are no where near as vast as when we were at Blizzard, we can be more mobile in our decision and implementation process because the entire company numbers around 30 people. I think the similarities to Blizzard – quality, ease of play, connection to community – are vital as well.

Q: American developers like you are often at ease both with console and PC games while Europeans mainly focus on the latter. What makes the American developers so flexible compared to Europe or Asia?

Bill Roper: I think that there was a very fundamental shift in developers’ strategies in the early 90’s away from console and into PC. Over the past 5 years or so, it is shifting back, but we have a solid base of experience and real love for PC games that allows us to work well in both areas. Also, internet penetration into the home was a huge impetus in the US for developers and publishers to focus on the PC, and the payment model and accessibility to high-speed internet connectivity was much better in the US. I don’t think it is a matter of talent or ability – simply opportunity and the platforms that people are playing. By comparison, handheld and mobile games development is extremely strong in Asia and is really just beginning in many ways here in the US.

Q: How does a team developing for the international market look like? Do you need team members from different cultural groups in order to make the game compatible with countries like e.g. South Korea?

Bill Roper: Having members of your team come from different parts of the world is a benefit in numerous ways, but it isn’t essential to developing games for a global market. It is more important to have partners that live and breathe where you want to be. This is one of the reasons we have a split publishing deal with Namco (excellent reputation, knowledge and distribution in the Americas, Europe, Australia and Japan) and HanbitSoft (based in Korea, and also serving China, Taiwan, Milaysa and the Philipines). We always work with teams that are based in the countries we are translating for so that the game feels as local as it can in terms of phrasing, accents, idioms and slang. Gamers are very attuned to this, so if we can make the effort to do all we can (as an American company) to bring them the game play experience the way they want it, it benefits everyone involved.

Q: Older aged gamers get more and more important with the years, as well as female gamers. How does the industry adapt to this change in its consumer structure and does it influence your games?

Bill Roper: At Flagship, we are all gamers, and interestingly enough, tend to skew “older” ourselves. Our generation grew up playing games, which is why we still play them now into our 30’s and 40’s. I think that developers should be less concerned with finding ways to specifically attract specific demographics (such as women, or age brackets) and should create compelling experiences. We never specifically tuned the game to be interesting to women, but Diablo has a large female audience because it is cooperative and easy to get into. As our industry continues to expand, we will see more and more gender or age specific games trying to be made, and as long as the focus is still on a quality, fun experience, that’s fine. Where failures occur is when developers and publishers figure it will sell to girls just because it has a specific license.

What makes a game a world-wide best-seller? What can you do as a game designer especially in terms of game play to reach a broad audience on the international market?

Bill Roper: We have always worked under the credo “simple to learn, difficult to master”. Don’t make getting into the game a huge challenge. Reward players early and often. Introduce new and more complex ideas or techniques slowly and never require people to make a decision before they know what it means or one that can destroy their play experience.

Q: In what ways can you still innovate in game design, besides technological advancements?

Bill Roper: There are so many things left to explore in terms of connectivity, portability, and emergent behaviour, just to name the first ones that popped to mind. Making games that appeal to different members of the same family that, while all are different, tie into a combined experience. Another is allowing players to control the ebb and flow of a game through their decisions as opposed to a defined set of rules. With ‘Hellgate: London’, we’re exploring new ways to incorporate randomization into our core design that we’ve never tried before.

Q: Do you still see a future for PC games separated from console games? How strong will the influence of consoles become?

Bill Roper: Eventually there will be a single platform that is a hybrid of consoles, PCs, home entertainment and probably an espresso machine. Right now, there are certainly game types that by their nature work much better on consoles and others on PC. The biggest difference is, of course, the input device. The ability to communicate via a keyboard is something that you still don’t see on console, and the consoles are still behind the PC in their ease and ability to get players online. This is all changing rapidly, and it will be interesting to see how much penetration the next-gen machines get into the online space. I do believe that for the foreseeable future there is still a vibrant market for both the console and the PC, especially in the realm of innovative, self-distributed titles which you can only do on the PC.