Flagship Studios Interview
The co-founders of Blizzard North create Flagship Studios.
October 27, 2003 - Several founding members of Blizzard North have recently left the storied developer to form their own company - Flagship Studios. Today we're chatting with ex-Diablo guru Bill Roper to learn more...
Voodoo Extreme - First off, how does it feel to leave Blizzard to co-found your own studio?
Bill Roper - It is very exciting and extremely energizing. It's kind of like skydiving for the first time because you're taking a real leap of faith, but if everything goes as planned, it's an amazing ride. We're fortunate to have a fantastic group of guys onboard and every day sees the game and the company making great strides forward.
Voodoo Extreme - How long have you guys been contemplating leaving Blizzard to form Flagship?
Bill Roper - Our leaving Blizzard was almost as big a surprise to us as it was to everyone else in the world. Our intention was never to leave Blizzard, but to try and open a dialogue with Vivendi Universal. They made the decision to not afford us that opportunity, and we found our resignations submitted over the issue had instead been accepted. That being done, it took us about two days to get back together and start dreaming up the next game we would make. Everything since then has been a hectic, but thrilling, race to get a whole new company and a new game moving forward as quickly and intelligently as possible.
Voodoo Extreme - What genres are Flagship most interested in developing games for and why?
Bill Roper - We love a lot of different genres, so what we do over the course of the life of the company is really open. We haven't gone into a lot of detail concerning our first game, but I can say that while we won't be simply chasing our past success, people who have played and enjoyed our previous games will love what we're going to be doing this time around.
Voodoo Extreme - Will Flagship make PC games or console titles as well?
Bill Roper - We are currently focusing all of our energies on creating a great game for the PC and are not are not currently developing for the console systems. We do feel our concept would be highly adaptable for play on consoles, however, so we have not ruled out the possibility of a version being created for those platforms.
Voodoo Extreme - What's the atmosphere like at Flagship compared to working at Blizzard?
Bill Roper - Both Condor (that became Blizzard North) and Flagship have a strong feeling of family about them. The nine of us at Flagship are very close, and spend a lot of social time together. The goal of our work is to make something fun, so we do everything we can to make the place we do that work someplace where we enjoy spending the massive amounts of time and effort it takes to make that game. It's casual around here, and very conducive to being extremely creative.
Bill Roper - We're lucky to have a very strong core team already in place, and we're rolling along through the early stages of building the game and it's technology. We know that we can effectively operate in this mode long enough to get our graphics pipeline solidified and our tools adequately advanced to really start pouring in content. We will need to bring more people in at some point, and although we are not currently hiring, we are taking resumes, portfolios and letters of interest from qualified people that are passionate about making games.
We encourage anyone who is interested to check out our website for updates on job opportunities, more news on the company and more information about what we're looking for in a team member.
Voodoo Extreme - Has it been hard to find funding for the new company?
Bill Roper - Our reputation as a team of developers preceded us to a good extent, so getting the initial meetings with publishers and financial sources has been easier than I think many companies just starting out would find. While we have been paying for the development of the game out of pocket so far, we do have a lot of options open to us in terms of funding our game going forward.
Voodoo Extreme - Which publishers are you most interested in working with?
Bill Roper - We are interested in working with a publisher that shares our dedication to putting out a great game and willingness to devote the time and resources required to do so. We also want to find a publishing partner who has a strong commitment to the gaming community since the players are the real reason we're all here. The upside is that there is a renewed focus amongst publishers to put out top quality games, so we have found our goals aligning with the vast majority of people we have talked with.
Voodoo Extreme - What things do you think that Flagship can bring to the table that other companies can't?
Bill Roper - Probably the biggest thing we have is a sold core team in place that has already worked together on a very successful game. The experience of the members of Flagship Studios, as individuals and as a team, is pretty rare, and I think it's one of the main reasons the game has been coming along as fast and well as it has. We know that we have a solid handle on what it takes to create a great game, and we're just happy to be able to come in and do that every single day.
Voodoo Extreme - A lot of people are going to be expecting another game like Diablo. Will they be disappointed?
Bill Roper - If by that you mean that they are looking forward to a game that is simple to learn, easy to play and has an amazing amount of replayability and depth of game play, then I think they will be extremely pleased with what we're cooking up.
OH THANK YOU GOD!
The old d2 team's at work once again!
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