Heres what he had to say.
So how did this joint venture between Trion and Syfy come about?
They ended up creating a new IP simply because we have to have a clean slate.
So here we are withDefiance.
So then it was decided to do it on a massive scale.
The game itself, right now, we have 150 people [working on it].
The television show, the production quality is pretty goddamn good.
Because there are immense possibilities in telling a story that is interconnected through multiple mediums.
How will we see, as the series and the game develops, these characters and stories cross over?
Most of the DLC will come out during the airing of the first season of the television show.
That also ties in with season two, both in the game itself and the TV show.
Then we tie it together even more.
You dont have to.
Even though we have events that make it a bigger experience, we dont necessarily have to do that.
you could play the game, and the dynamic events are explained, so youre not missing out.
Whats the biggest technical challenge youve had so far in this game?
Well, early on we have the challenge of developing for three different platforms at the same time.
Even though they had internet connectivity, that didnt mean that people went home and actually plugged them in.
We have different models on consoles which allow for added revenue streams, which online games need to have.
So its all the moving parts that have provided the challenge.
Does that mean youll be producing Defiance for the next generation of consoles?
We havent made any announcements on that, but thats certainly where we want to go.
For us, the new generation is essentially another platform.
Its a question of knowing how were going to use them.
What does it look like?
But this is an opportunity to reach an audience, so of course we want to be there.
Youre sellingDefianceas a full price game, but therell be microtransactions, too, is that right?
Its sold as a full price game, and youll have everything you oughta play it.
But then what you have over time, are opportunities to buy individual items from the store.
You dont have to you’re able to play the game just fine without them.
Then youll also have DLCs, expansions essentially, that well release throughout the year.
Were at an interesting crossroads, arent we.
What do you think the future of gaming is?
IsDefianceit, do you think?
I think the gaming landscape is changing tremendously.
Im a big fan of indie games.
I think we see most of the innovation happening in there.
Im not such a large fan, though, of large stars going on Kickstarter and funding their games.
I also have my doubts about the huge investment up front, retail-driven games in the future.
People are saying that free to play is the future; it isnt.
Its just one more business model were seeing.
Freemium isnt free to play theyre different business models, essentially.
Then you have different types of game that fit best with different models.
Whats happening is competition is getting pretty hard.
Theres only so many times you’re free to perfect the same thing.
At some point, you have to diversify more.
Annual versions ofFIFA, for example.
Do you think the philosophy of games has changed over the past few years?
Games were once products, but now theyre a service.
Its coming from a number of directions.
One is how developers create their games.
The process is now more iterative.
Now you expand upon it, and test new features.
Its fine to course-correct, but you course-correct early on, so it doesnt cost a fortune to fix.
Then you open up for alpha or beta, to get more customer feedback.
Youre not just putting stuff out and hoping for the best.
So theres a certain philosophical change there.
Theyre saying, I have a certain amount of time, is this game interesting enough?
Does it look as though its going to evolve and continue, and become more and more fun?
Is it going to expand?
So theres a sense that its not just money Im investing, but time.
So yeah, I think theres a big change.
Even in terms of people playing free games, they can go in, and they can go out.
Getting them back in is such a huge challenge, because theres so much choice.
Every time you go onto Facebook, theres another game.
You have to start differentiating, and trying something new.
There are lots of things you’re able to do.
Lets not hop on the bandwagon and start saying that free to play is the saviour of mankind.
There are lots of things that are good, which you might try out.
Do you think theres a certain amount of suspicion surrounding microtransactions?
I think whats happening there is that the word microtransactions has so many connotations to it.
There are so many stories attached to it.
But this model is considered the norm, for example, in Asia.
When you start designing a game, you have to start thinking about the business model.
So finally, how would you describeDefiance?
Whats its unique selling point, do you think?
So we leverage the open world, that massive scale that adds a magical dimension to it.
So far, our research and data, from alphas and everything, says that thats what weve done.
So, yeah, a massive, open-world, third-person shooter is how Id describe it.
Nathan Richardsson, thank you very much.
