Fifteen years after leaving through the door of starbreezebring together a group of people who knew a lot about video games in Sweden and form MachineGames, the dream has grown, a lot, but those responsible They continue working on pillars that are as simple as they are robust.. With this in mind and the permission (ever vigilant) of ‘Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’ as his closest present, we took the opportunity to chat for a while with Jerk Gustafssonits executive producer, about the origins, the future and, why not, about what the studio supports.
Fifteen years ago…
He himself serves as a guide on the origins and values, on what work is like today in terms of technology, production, current needs and, meanwhile, he points out a practice that they have maintained at MachineGames after their career at Starbreeze. “I think what we ruled out was probably trying to work on two projects at the same time. That was something we struggled with a lot at Starbreeze, and one of the reasons why we also left it. What we did continue and have always wanted to continue doing, was basically focusing on what we felt creatively worked for us,” says Gustafsson.
In your case, explain that They tried to continue what they started with ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’ or ‘The Darkness’. “Create games that are very focused on the story, with attention to the characters, trying to give them depth and at the same time, offer a certain playable variety that makes the journey interesting. Those are some of the things that we wanted to maintain at MachineGames and, obviously, also the first-person genre. I think that the first person has always been something very dear and important to us, because we often say (and I say it here and in the studio) that I don’t just want to play with the character, I want to be the character. That’s it. It is something we continue to focus on and want to continue strengthening.”
MachineGames today
Imagine for a moment that you have to write a short note for someone who joins the team with three ideas that explain the identity of MachineGames today. What would they be? “I think the first, and most important, is what we call an open-door policy. Although we are no longer a completely flat structure because we have grown a lot, it is very important for us to maintain the feeling that anyone can talk at any time to get information, to talk about the game, to propose ideas and to be proactive. That is a very important part of the creative process.”
Secondly, it affects responsibility and the feeling of ownership with the work. “It is mainly because we are now a large studio with many departments. It is very important that everyone on the team feels that the work they do has a real weight in the project, that they perceive that their contribution has meaning within the whole. Because if you own something, you also have more responsibility and greater commitment.”
Third “would be our insistence on encouraging teamwork. Making sure that when you receive or give feedback, you are aware of how to do it, that it is well understood, and that everyone is part of a larger whole,” something that forced the team to make a serious effort to make Indy’s adventure really work at the level necessary. “In doing so, we also experimented quite a bit. We tried different puzzle designs, and when the bonus content came in, we were more confident in developing them. Maybe we did a little more in terms of the number of puzzles in relation to the amount of gameplay it offered, but it wasn’t planned and it happened quite organically.”
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle receives New Game Plus
Back to ‘Indiana Jones’ and after its latest content addition, it seems that there is room to commemorate the anniversary. “Well, we have a big update coming out on October 10, which is when we celebrate MachineGames’ 15th anniversary, which is really fun, because we wanted to do something special for that date. Releasing a new update to the game is a good opportunity to give our fans something nice as we turn 15.”
Gustafsson tells us that the material included in this next batch of content corresponds to some functions that had been requested by the players of ‘Indiana Jones and the Great Circle’. One of them is the New Game Plus mode, which will be available from October 10. “We will also add something that has been requested a lot: the ability to separate voices and subtitles, and that will also come in the update. So yes, there will be a good Indiana Jones update.”
Work with Lucasfilm
When we ask if he remembers any aspect in which Lucasfilm intervened in the final result or any concessions they asked for and were approved, Gustafsson admits that at the beginning I was a little worried about how the relationship with Lucasfilm would work out. “Because in the end we are talking about such a well-known character and such a popular saga. There was always that concern. How will it work? What will the collaboration with Lucasfilm be like?” he explains. “But as soon as we started working with them, everything went very well. What we did was, as always, lay out the entire story, because we always start there. Once we had a draft from the beginning of the game to the end, we presented it to Lucasfilm Games and we reviewed it with their entire team.”
It seems that they understood each other well and, from the beginning, Both teams were quite aligned. “Of course, there’s always a back-and-forth, but the most important thing is that they have an incredible library of content and a deep knowledge of ‘Indiana Jones’. So there were a lot of things that we could draw on: old scripts, past materials that could be used to include winks and references, elements that enrich the gaming experience.”
The dawn of a new ‘Wolfenstein’?
Regarding ‘Wolfenstein’, the developer has always maintained that the modern sagaIt was conceived as a trilogy and we wondered what it would take to launch the next installment. “Well, we’ve always had a plan for it to be a trilogy, and I hope we can do it in the future. That doesn’t mean I can talk about what comes next (you know that’s still a secret), but yes, we have been working with ‘Wolfenstein’ more than 10 years as a studio and we really know the brand. The team loves working with her. So I definitely hope we can get back to it at some point,” he smiles without leaving too many clues, but obviously the present is ‘Indiana Jones’ and it’s a very different game. “For the team it is too. ‘Wolfenstein’ is very adult, it has blood, explicit violence, while ‘Indiana Jones’ is more of an adventure game for a youth audience, more friendly in that sense.”
“There are a lot of differences, but there are also similarities. I think that whatever we do next, it will be something recognizable in both ‘Wolfenstein’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ and the same thing happens if you look back at games like ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’ or ‘The Darkness’. You will also see similarities because, in reality, we have stayed true to our identity. Even though the technology has advanced a lot and the size of the team has “Grown up, there are still elements of the old Riddick that come through in the last game we released with ‘Indiana Jones’.”
Product identity seal MachineGames
Without deviating from the line, we ask for a couple of distinctive elements by which a MachineGames game is identified. “It’s a difficult question. When I review our games and listen to people outside the studio, a recurring reference comes up. They often tell me that they perceive similarities with ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’, even without having a relationship with Xbox or MachineGames,” although it seems that it is difficult for him to pinpoint exactly what it is. “If I think about it, I think it has to do with how we put different elements together. Although ‘Wolfenstein’ is a shooter and ‘Indiana Jones’ is more of an adventure, they both mix a lot of things. You have hand-to-hand combat, shootouts, stealth elements. That, combined with a strong narrative approach, creates a kind of mix that ends up defining our games.
“I would say that, in a strange way, we’re probably not the best at one particular aspect, but when you put it all together, it becomes a solid experience as a whole. I think that’s where our strength lies, in being able to balance all of that. And we will continue to evolve and improve each of those parts. I am convinced that, in the future, what we release will continue to be recognized as a MachineGames game, because it will always be a combination of all of those items.”
Looking five years ahead
Before saying goodbye and thanking you for your time, we ask that you a brief definition of today’s MachineGames and others for what awaits in five years. “Right now we are in a very good moment. I think the main reason is that we are, at the same time, an old and a new studio. We have a very solid core, with people who have been with us, like myself, for more than 25 years. This new adventure is 15 years old, but that is only part of the story, because we were in Starbreeze for a long time before.”
In reality, they are still the same group of people. “Which is a very strong base on which to stand. At the same time, we have a lot of new people on the team. Talent that comes from all over the world, also from schools. Now the training in video game development is much better than 15 or more years ago. That combination between the veteran group and the new generations brings a very healthy mix to the studio. So I think we are in a very positive situation.” And we hope that it will continue for as many years as possible.