February 07, 2007
I feel a Heatwave comin' on... (holy cr4p, what have I done???)
The past two or three weeks have been incredibly busy and because of the nature of that bustle, I really haven't had much opportunity to talk about what I'm up to.
Last month, I blathered on about how I was going to make some big changes and things are going to change. I was serious.
Last Friday was my last day at Codemasters. I've started a new company called "Heatwave Interactive, Inc.", as a vehicle to bring great games to the masses and "right" some of the "wrongs" in the games business. Currently, Heatwave only has a few employees, but we've already landed our first contract for a major client. What are these great games you ask? How about those wrongs? And can I really do anything about them?
I'll get to that. But first, let me give you a little context for what my life is like in this transition.
Codemasters & England. My family and I really are very sad to be leaving England so soon. We firmly expected to be there at least three years. We've had an amazing time. We've travelled all over the UK and parts of Europe. The kids have been exposed to a very different way of life, and as a family we've had to adapt to some pretty significant lifestyle changes (family of six with no car for 5 months...). The people at Codemasters are fantastic. Along with some great professional contacts, I've made what I hope are lifelong friends. In particular, the Codemasters Online Gaming (COG) division are an inspiring group of people, weathering very difficult conditions for a vision they believe in (not to mention holding up the banner for online gaming's "forgotten continent").
I'll miss you guys.
Heatwave & Austin. So, as of Friday, I've been phoneless and computerless. That's been rough. Particularly since I've been travelling quite a bit in the US. At the moment I'm in Austin, Texas doing a little house shopping and getting some fundamentals set up. Over the next month or so, I'll move the family and get into the groove with our new client. Also, we've got some corporate branding coming along, and of course a website (the current domain is purely a placeholder). I've got a great partner in a gentlemen named Donn Clendenon, who I've been working with "virtually" for a while. We've also got some very talented folks working with us on various parts of the business. I can't wait to tell you a little more about that in the near future. So far, it's been one of the coolest experiences of my creative/professional life.
Over the next week, I'll address the "rights" and "wrongs," the reason for choosing Austin as our base of operations, the motivations behind the name "Heatwave Interactive," and other various topics as they arise.
Anyway, this is just a quick update to say, I'm dead serious. I'm a man with a family of six with a good salary and I just quit my job. Serious coolness will result.
One last thing, I'm considering doing some "reality blogging" about what it's like to start a new company, or more specifically, a new game company. There are a lot of implications to consider, but very few people have an idea of what it's like to start a business, much less a game company. Am I crazy enough to let the Intarweb vote on our company logo? What about which game project we should do first? Is that pure insanity? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts about that.
Peace.
Posted by SunSword at 03:19 PM | Comments (1)
January 08, 2007
ArchLord gains momentum
Regardless of whether ArchLord is the game for you, it is an interesting product to watch from an industry perspective. Since we announced in December that no subscription is required to play, the average number of players in the game each night is up by 100% (that is to say it has doubled). Why is this significant?
First, it is significant because the game still requires a box purchase. The game's increase in users is tightly connected to new accounts which have come from box sales. Why is this important? Primarily because retail was in significant decline only a month or two after launch. The new pricing model has had (in the very short period thus far) a significant REAL impact on retail sales and active server populations.
Okay, that's all very well and interesting for AL. I'm happy for the community and of course it makes the business much more pleasant.
The second significant item here is that it validates the assertion that the MMO audience has become more price sensitive.
The bottom line is of course that now that we've found the right price for the service, we can continue the work of actually improving the game and addressing the many and various concerns that the players have with it.
The last piece of the business to shape up is item sales. So far, they've been very popular (uptake), but are they enough to operate the game service profitably in the long term (revenue)? Early indications are promising, but only time will tell.
Posted by SunSword at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
January 03, 2007
A day in the life of a community manager...
Kyle Rowley, COG's RF Online Community Manager extraordinaire has penned a very readable article on MMORPG.com.
For those of you who are not familiar with myself, or my alter ego “Laeth” I’ll do a quick introduction. My “real name” is Kyle Rowley and I’m the Community Manager (CM) for Codemasters Online Gaming’ Sci-Fi MMORPG Rising Force Online (RFO). Professionally, some could call me a n00b in the Community Management business – I’ve only been CM for RFO for around 10 months after all – so my words are not to be taken as the bee's knees on what community management entails, or how one would go about doing this for a living; but it should provide some insight for those of you who are interested."
Certainly no n00b, Kyle has done an excellent job representing a difficult project developed in a far away country through a significant language barrier.
As a bonus, there are a few shots of some of my co-workers and our office out in the middle of the English countryside.
Posted by SunSword at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)