Being an independent game studio can be both rewarding and treacherous, and Gas Powered Games CEO Chris Taylor knows as well as anyone about those trials and tribulations. Speaking at a session about independent studios at D.I.C.E. 2010 that was moderated by G4's Adam Sessler and also included Epic's Mike Capps, Taylor joked that Demigod was the reason his kids won't go to college.
"There's a fear when doing midsize games that are new franchises," commented Taylor [thanks 1UP]. "You're doing the numbers on a spreadsheet and it's absolutely frightening."
Almost since the inception, Taylor has had to mull buyout offers... and so far he's refused them all. “We got offered to be bought at least five times," he said. "There are days that I really regret not having sold, and there are days when I'm really happy that we didn't. It's because I'm still in it for the art; 20 years from now we'll see if that was the right call or not...we'll see if that completely kicks my ass."
Part of the way that Gas Powered Games is evolving their business is reflected in their announcement of Kings and Castles, an RTS title still in a very nascent stage. "Announcing the game a month into development scares the hell out of me," said Taylor. "It's like saying you're pregnant a week after you find out -- people don't do that for a reason."
Taylor says that building hype early is very necessary in today's market; announcing a year before launch just isn't going to cut it. "I'm not saying I know all the answers, but I'm just saying the old model isn't working -- and that getting the word out more than a year before release is the way to go. You can't spend a ton of marketing money in a world that doesn't care about marketing anymore... PR is the new marketing."
"We're going to be levering Facebook, Twitter, my relationships in the industry... everything we can," Taylor added.
Taylor also added about how this method will help with negotiations. "We're turning it into a menu of opportunities for investors, publishers, distributors, or to anyone else who wants to get involved with it,” noted Taylor.
While traditionally a PC developer, Taylor said that he's looking to branch out Kings and Castles to consoles. "We're going to go PS3 with Kings and Castles as well," he said. "Were pushing into the console space now. I'm no longer just a PC developer slugging it out on the PC, fighting piracy and all this stuff."
When asked about pursuing the casual market, Taylor responded "It takes me just as much of my time to come up with a game for iPhone," he said, "and I don't want to be distracted. I have to make a decision what type of business I'm in. You have to know who you are and make it work."
"What is it about when we get into the smaller budgets that we automatically think silly and whimsical?" he added. "It's like, let's do a game about skydiving into a giant pit of jello! Look, you can still kill people for $300,000."
Capps responded to that by saying, “Honestly, the safest place right now is to just spend three months on a smaller casual game and hope it hits big."
"Now you tell me?" Taylor joked. "Tell that to my kids."
