UK-based Supermassive Games has built a reputation as one of the best in the business when it comes to narrative-driven games. The news that Supermassive will become the latest studio to be wholly owned by Nordisk Games just so happens to coincide with the launch of its latest game, The Quarry, which has launched on PC and console
Tell us about the moment that you decided to start your own game studio
It was 2006…I think. I was in a hotel bar in Havana, on vacation, smoking a Cohiba and drinking a Mojito, and I’m not making this up! I would add that I’m not endorsing tobacco or hard liquor here.
I worked at Electronic Arts at the time and, after more than seven years there I knew I needed a change, and it just felt like the right change to make. It was scary, though. From there it took a couple of years to get the gig that set the studio up, and I’ll always be grateful to a couple of people at PlayStation for trusting us with that first work-for-hire contract. You don’t make a game studio work and succeed on your own, though! Joe and I, who founded the Company in the first place, have been supported and guided by some incredible talent to keep it going in the early years, and then to build it to what it is today.
Looking back at that moment from now - what advice would you give your younger selves?
Do it sooner, and don’t be so afraid of the things over which you have no control or influence. Being passionate about what we do means that we sometimes take the haters too much to heart. Not everyone will love everything you do, don’t take it personally! Also, think bigger and have greater ambition. Supermassive has grown to a scale that I never imagined at the outset. Unfortunately, the younger me was less likely to take advice than the older me is, so I probably would have ignored myself.
What have been the lowest and highest points of your journey so far?
There have been so many of each. It really has been a roller-coaster so far. Describing the lowest low probably incriminates too many other people, even though any difficulties we’ve needed to overcome have always been, at least in part, of our own making. Poor critical reception is always painful for me personally, and we’ve had a couple of games in the 14 years as a studio that I’d put in that category. The highs are easier to talk about. The critical and fan acclaim for Until Dawn was a huge high, culminating in the award of a BAFTA for Best Original Property. But, to be honest, it’s a high every time a fan of our games creates a social media post about their love for all of our teams’ work.
What has been the biggest change in the games industry during your time at Supermassive?
Fourteen years is a long time, and the technology changes that have impacted both development and delivery have been significant. It’s a constant battle for all of us in the industry to keep up and to plan effectively for uncertain technological and commercial futures. We’ve been fortunate to have worked directly with great partners like PlayStation, Bandai Namco, and 2K, who share some of their insights that help us to steer our ship. I’d also say that, as the gaming audience has grown significantly and tastes have become broader, the kinds of experiences that have become synonymous with Supermassive are more widely appreciated.
What has surprised you about working with the team at Nordisk Games?
The way they have changed our thinking about possible futures for Supermassive and helped us to focus on a path that’s both exciting and challenging. As a minority investor in Supermassive for the past year, the people we’ve worked with directly at Nordisk Games, and those from their portfolio companies that we’ve had the pleasure of meeting at various internal gatherings, have strong and varied opinions which have always been presented constructively, with those involved being very open to considering alternative viewpoints. It’s largely these things and the fact that we share so many other important values, that made the decision to entertain their acquisition of Supermassive so straightforward for us.
What do you hope to achieve in the next couple of years?
Lots of things, some of which we’re not ready to discuss publicly. More generally, we hope to continue to create more great stories for our fans to enjoy. We will have a great focus on innovating in the genre and delivering these stories in different ways. More Dark Pictures. More feature-length narrative journeys like The Quarry. More breadth of in-game mechanics. More platforms. It’s an incredibly exciting time.
UK-based Supermassive Games has built a reputation as one of the best in the business when it comes to narrative-driven games. The news that Supermassive will become the latest studio to be wholly owned by Nordisk Games just so happens to coincide with the launch of its latest game, The Quarry, which has launched on PC and console
Tell us about the moment that you decided to start your own game studio
It was 2006…I think. I was in a hotel bar in Havana, on vacation, smoking a Cohiba and drinking a Mojito, and I’m not making this up! I would add that I’m not endorsing tobacco or hard liquor here.
I worked at Electronic Arts at the time and, after more than seven years there I knew I needed a change, and it just felt like the right change to make. It was scary, though. From there it took a couple of years to get the gig that set the studio up, and I’ll always be grateful to a couple of people at PlayStation for trusting us with that first work-for-hire contract. You don’t make a game studio work and succeed on your own, though! Joe and I, who founded the Company in the first place, have been supported and guided by some incredible talent to keep it going in the early years, and then to build it to what it is today.
Looking back at that moment from now - what advice would you give your younger selves?
Do it sooner, and don’t be so afraid of the things over which you have no control or influence. Being passionate about what we do means that we sometimes take the haters too much to heart. Not everyone will love everything you do, don’t take it personally! Also, think bigger and have greater ambition. Supermassive has grown to a scale that I never imagined at the outset. Unfortunately, the younger me was less likely to take advice than the older me is, so I probably would have ignored myself.
What have been the lowest and highest points of your journey so far?
There have been so many of each. It really has been a roller-coaster so far. Describing the lowest low probably incriminates too many other people, even though any difficulties we’ve needed to overcome have always been, at least in part, of our own making. Poor critical reception is always painful for me personally, and we’ve had a couple of games in the 14 years as a studio that I’d put in that category. The highs are easier to talk about. The critical and fan acclaim for Until Dawn was a huge high, culminating in the award of a BAFTA for Best Original Property. But, to be honest, it’s a high every time a fan of our games creates a social media post about their love for all of our teams’ work.
What has been the biggest change in the games industry during your time at Supermassive?
Fourteen years is a long time, and the technology changes that have impacted both development and delivery have been significant. It’s a constant battle for all of us in the industry to keep up and to plan effectively for uncertain technological and commercial futures. We’ve been fortunate to have worked directly with great partners like PlayStation, Bandai Namco, and 2K, who share some of their insights that help us to steer our ship. I’d also say that, as the gaming audience has grown significantly and tastes have become broader, the kinds of experiences that have become synonymous with Supermassive are more widely appreciated.
What has surprised you about working with the team at Nordisk Games?
The way they have changed our thinking about possible futures for Supermassive and helped us to focus on a path that’s both exciting and challenging. As a minority investor in Supermassive for the past year, the people we’ve worked with directly at Nordisk Games, and those from their portfolio companies that we’ve had the pleasure of meeting at various internal gatherings, have strong and varied opinions which have always been presented constructively, with those involved being very open to considering alternative viewpoints. It’s largely these things and the fact that we share so many other important values, that made the decision to entertain their acquisition of Supermassive so straightforward for us.
What do you hope to achieve in the next couple of years?
Lots of things, some of which we’re not ready to discuss publicly. More generally, we hope to continue to create more great stories for our fans to enjoy. We will have a great focus on innovating in the genre and delivering these stories in different ways. More Dark Pictures. More feature-length narrative journeys like The Quarry. More breadth of in-game mechanics. More platforms. It’s an incredibly exciting time.
