N'Gai Croal
|
Sep 13, 2007 12:23 AM
In Part III
of our four-part Q&A with Flagship Studios CEO Bill Roper, we
talked about whether his company's first game merited the MMO label and
the reasoning behind Hellgate: London's hybrid business model. In
today's final installment, we discuss the relationship between
Flagship, Namco and Electronic Arts; whether Roper is concerned about
the amount of risk inherent in Hellgate's numerous innovations; and
whether his real-world musical abilities are transferable to Guitar
Hero.
As Flagship was developing the content model and
business model for Hellgate: London, what role did EA and EA Partners
play? I understand EA Partners is primarily distribution. It's not like
you're an owned studio. You have a lot of freedom to determine your
future. But what kind of guidance, advice, philosophy sharing--did you
guys work together on this stuff at all, or did you just tell them,
"Hey guys, here's what we're gonna do"?
It definitely was
driven out of Flagship. Once EAP came on as a publishing partner with
Namco, certainly we availed ourselves of all the knowledge that was
there: the research they've done; all the things that EA definitely
brings to the table. For example, when we were talking about pricing
for the continuing content, the number, that $9.99, came out of
Flagship; but then we talked with EA about it and said, "OK, here's
what we think it should be. What do you guys think? We want your
feedback on it." It wasn't like EA said, "OK, great. Now that we're
doing the distribution and whole thing, here's the price, here's your
model, here's your list of things." That was all driven internally by
the team, by the company. But at the same time, we were very pleased to
be able to have a wide breath of knowledge, and research, and
experience to bounce those ideas off of and get very honest feedback.
So there's been some good collaboration there.
From the
previous conversation we had in January and then again now, it's clear
that you guys are innovating in like a bunch of different directions.
And innovation generally means risk. So, I mean, do you find
yourself--other than being sort of up late working on the game--do you
find yourself having sleepless nights worrying about the amount of risk
that you've taken? Do you feel concerned about that level of innovation
and risk-taking and do you ever wonder whether people will get it and
get on board for it?
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