Convict Games

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I’m proud to announce the first of my Indie spotlight interviews.
In the spotlight today, is Convict Games, hailing from Australia. They’re currently developing their debut title, STONE.

STONE is a Hip-Hop Stoner Noir that follows the story of a hungover, loveable, fat koala who literally is a huge d**k: He’s a 200-pound private investigator koala trying to put together the pieces from the drunken night before to find his “chookie” Alex, a lorikeet raver and artist.

How long have you been a developer?

I started my career in the VFX and feature animation industries where I worked on films like Gravity, Prometheus, WWZ, Sucker Punch and Happy Feet 2 back in 2010. After that, I worked at Remedy on Quantum Break, the preproduction of Control and CrossFire 2. Most recently before STONE, I led Downward Spiral: Horus Station. So 8 years so far.

How many years has your team been developing games?

Our team is filled with lots of fresh talent and first-timers in the games industry. We’re roughly over 10 years together. However, everyone has done an amazing job! We have one artist for visual direction from Moscow, one 3D artist from Finland, one animator from Australia, one sound designer from Finland, marketing, branding and my editor in Finland, my sister helping me run the company from Texas, a friend in Australia helping run business operation and myself handing writing, directing, programming and producing.

Who, or what, inspired you to become a games developer?
I feel there are so many stories that haven’t been told in games and I’d rather play so many of these stories than watch them.

What was the inspiration for your team’s name?

Convict Games came from two things. Number 1, I’m Aussie and that’s part of the past and how others look at Australia.

Number 2, I wanted to twist, make it positive and move it forward with the idea of breaking free. Our motto is ‘Breaking free since 2017‘.

Our vision is to make high impact and alternative story games other won’t make.

Describe a usual day in the life of an indie development team.
As I run the company too I handle all operational things first, delegate work to others second and then start my tasks third.

Can you describe the process of developing a game?

For us, it started with the story. I wrote the full screenplay and had it ready, rewrote constantly and from there found Ivan for our visual direction. Next, we developed the world, Then found Mixu, built it in 3D, animated it with Joe, created the sound. We then recorded our voice actors with Mikko and then programmed and put it all together myself to have it ready for release.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yFUUEsXQ5c&w=560&h=315]

How do you juggle all of the aspects of games development?
I juggle all the aspects by having a great team and support group around me. I also do my best to let everyone have ownership so that they can be passionate and I can trust their vision. It’s very hard, I’ve lived less in other ways of late and STONE has been very consuming. However, it’s nearly out and I can’t wait for players to discover what we’ve put our time and passion into.

What is your ambition as an indie developer?
To change the type of stories told in games and attract a new audience to our medium.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into the games industry?
Create lots of games, art, stories, sounds, whatever your end goal is. Don’t wait for people to let you make games or tell stories, do it yourself first. The most valuable thing you can show any game studio is your portfolio, not your CV. So, build a lot of good quality work and don’t give up! If you don’t get the job it just means you need to make more games, art, stories or sounds first.

Where do you see gaming heading in the next decade?

I hope we will see more stories like we see in books, movies and tv today. That’s the goal of Convict Games and our debut STONE.

Hopefully, people are ready!

Keep an eye out for my review of STONE, when it is released later this year.

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I want to say a huge thanks to Greg and the team at Convict Games for taking part in my Indie Corner Spotlight.

If you would like your Indie Dev team to be featured in my Indie Corner Spotlight, please get in touch.