Developer Insomniac Games has a long history of making triple-A titles, and their next title will actually be published by EA, not Sony. Following the news, IndustryGamers had an opportunity to chat with Insomniac CEO Ted Price. Games like Resistance and Ratchet & Clank are fantastic experiences, but they would have sold a boatload more copies had they been available on Xbox 360 too. That will never happen since those IPs are owned by Sony, but Insomniac is hopeful that it's new game deal with EA will be the beginning of a long and fruitful publishing relationship. Our full Q&A with Price is below.
IndustryGamers: So this is the first time that Insomniac is going multi-platform right?
Ted Price: We began on the 3DO technically; our first game began as a multi-platform game. We switched to the PlayStation 1 when 3DO tanked.
IG: I see, but everything after that has been PlayStation exclusive.
TP: Right.
IG: What was the driving factor that led you to this decision - was it financially driven? Obviously if you look at your best selling games like Resistance or Ratchet & Clank you can envision “what if we could sell this to multiple installed bases of Xbox 360 plus PS3 and make a lot more money?” Was that a factor in this decision?
TP: Oh yeah, our goal is to reach more gamers. Period. That has financial ramifications for us too. We’ve been really appreciative of the PS3 fan base that we’ve built that communicates with us all the time, and we certainly talked about what it would be like if we could reach the same types of gamers on the Xbox 360, gamers who are playing our competitor’s games, and this was a great opportunity to step up and reach out to them.
IG: How did this happen with EA specifically? Did you seek out EA? Did EA come to you? How did this relationship come together?
TP: We talked to a lot of publishers who have multiple platform capabilities. And we had known about EAP. We’ve been friends with them for a while, and it basically happened organically when we began discussing the multi-platform project. Talking to people, EAP was one of the people we talked to and we found we were very compatible in terms of what we both want in our approach to making games. In particular, they have a strong adherence to quality over quantity, which is what we believe in here too. They have worked with the best independent developers in the world, and they have an amazing global reach when it comes to multi-platform, and that was what we were looking for. What really helped seal the deal is that EAP works with developers that own their own intellectual property, which is rare in this business, and for us that was a very important part of any relationship we were going to be forming beyond our current projects. That was key.
IG: It sounds very similar to the Bungie deal, except from my understanding this is for a one-game deal as opposed to the Bungie stuff with Activision which is actually for an entire franchise. Can you speak to why you guys are going for a one-game deal and not an entire franchise?
TP: We’ve worked on game-to-game deals for many years now, and it’s something that we believe is important. We want to make sure that we do our part, and the publisher does its part and the two parties aren’t locked into something that isn’t working. So, it gives us more flexibility down the road. [EA would probably] reiterate the fact that they are just as interested to make sure that they are also a good partner for us during the production of this first title. Our goal as a developer is to find long-term partners who we can work with for many years; a good example is Sony. We’ve been working with Sony for 14 years; we intend to continue working with them, because it has been a great partnership. Jumping from publisher to publisher is a logistical challenge. We are confident that this relationship that we have with EAP can turn into a long-term relationship; however, this is a one game deal for now.
