Today we took some time to think globally. Globally when it comes to distributing an MMO, that is. We talked to Brian “Psychochild” Green about his experiences with taking games global, and what a small developer would need to know to repeat Brian's success.Gamersinfo.net: Who are you and why should anyone listen to you?
Brian Green: My name is Brian Green, known online as "Psychochild". I've run a small development company operating the classic online game Meridian 59. We successfully licensed the game to a Germany company and made a significant amount of income from it. I thought other people might like to know what I learned from the experience.
Gamersinfo.net: The cost would seem prohibitive to expand a small game overseas. How can a small developer do it?
Brian Green: The biggest thing is that you need to find a good partner in the market you want to target. A small developer generally does not have the option to set up another office in another country to sell the game. Your partner should bear some of the costs of setting things up; they will be able to do this cheaper than you can because they have local contacts and knowledge about which local services are reputable and can handle the project like this.
Gamersinfo.net: What are the benefits of going international?
Brian Green: Well, the big one is money. As I said, a significant part of our income was from licenses for most of Meridian 59's history. What developer doesn't want a bit of extra income?
Of course, that's not the only reason. It's always nice to know that more people are able to play your game. It's quite an amazing feeling to be in a foreign country and not speak much of the language, but you can still hear terms related to your game in the conversations around you.
Gamersinfo.net: What are the major concerns?
Brian Green: The biggest problem is understanding foreign law. This is another reason you want to find a good partner. There are a lot of little differences in business and consumer protection laws that you probably don't know about. Your partner should know about this, and you should rely on them to help you through this.
Gamersinfo.net: How can an indie developer distribute costs in such a way as to make it equitable for a partner as well as themselves?
Brian Green: When you find a good partner, it's important to remember this is a partnership. You should sit down with them and work out what makes sense for payment. The standard is that they will run the game, then pay you a percentage of income as a royalty to you. You need to make sure that royalty is large enough to justify the extra work you'll have to put into the project, but not so big that your partner can't make a living.
Gamersinfo.net: How much additional work does it take to license the game in another market?
Brian Green: It takes quite a bit of extra work. The biggest thing you have to keep in mind is that patches to your game need to be shared with your licensee. You need to have a system where you can give them a patch, they can translate it, and then apply the patch to their local game. Sometimes small developers get used to patching whenever they want to, but your licensee (and their players!) will be upset if they have to wait a few months for a change you made to the game.
Gamersinfo.net: How important is an accurate translation?
Brian Green: It's very important. Would you want to play a game that was hard to read? Probably not. Neither do people who do not read English. But, translation is just part of the whole process of localization. It's also important that the game match cultural expectations. The most notorious example is the issue of violence in Germany. Most games change the color of human blood to some other color and say that you are fighting zombies. It's important that you can make these types of changes to match the cultural and legal requirements in the market.
Gamersinfo.net: Are separate servers always (or never) the most beneficial for the players?
Brian Green: It depends on the game. I think, in general, separate servers are good. Most people get frustrated if someone who does not speak their language is doing something they don't want in the game. I have heard a few stories where any person not speaking English on a North American server is accused of being a "Chinese gold farmer"; even if that person is speaking French. This isn't exclusively an American problem, either; many countries do not appreciate having people speaking other languages.
Even beyond xenophobia, you have the issue of shared experiences. In a typical online RPG you generally want everyone to be able to speak the same language in order to coordinate while in a party. The very essence of online games is community, and being unable to communicate can be harmful to the community.
Gamersinfo.net: What is the single most important thing to keep in mind for an indie developer looking to launch a game in another market?
Brian Green: Get help if you want to go international! Get a good lawyer that is familiar with the laws in the target market to help you draft the agreement. Find a good partner to run the game in that market. Find people who know about localization and culturalization issues and get their help. This will save you a lot of headaches in the long run.
I’ve played computer games since college, addicted first to story type games like Might and Magic. I have 3 children who also love computer games. My oldest son is a typical kid who loves the challenge of pressing the right combination of buttons and levers on a joystick in just the right way to make something happens, and frequently gets frustrated with mom’s slow fingers. ;) We use computers for both education and entertainment, and sometimes even bribery for good behavior.
The “glory days” of computer gaming for me were when games like Spectre Supreme, Pirate’s Gold, the Might and Magic series, the original Prince of Persia… those sorts of games were coming out on a regular basis. Back then I owned a Macintosh and was a die hard Mac fan. I was one of the first in my area to buy an iMac and on it learned the joy of playing games on the internet like daily crossword puzzle and “mind bender” type puzzles. My first online RPG was given to me for Christmas the year EQ was released, and I was hooked from day one. I played EQ for about a year. I started playing DaoC during late alpha testing, and was hooked on it.. well, to be honest I still am. I’ve tried pretty much every MMORPG I can get my hands on, from big names like EQ, to more obscure ones such as Underlight. I’ve been writing for IMGS since the first DaoC guide, and find I love the challenge of learning a game and presenting what I’ve learned (and sometimes my opinions), to other players.
I’m not a very strong player as far as learning PvE or quick reaction times, so I tend to stay away from games where I’m pitted against someone else in a way that requires physical (rather than mental) response. I still enjoy story and puzzle games, and in a way that’s how I still approach online games. I would much rather spend hours working through a quest than 5 minutes in combat against another player. I still get lost in simulation type games, obsessing over them until I’ve gotten them beaten. And I like being able to sit down at the computer when I’ve got less than half an hour and playing through a few levels of a puzzle game. I tend not to like first-person shooter type games, or anything with person to person violence, so I steer away from them unless they are fantasy based settings. All in all, I enjoy computer gaming so much that my life feels incomplete somehow when my computer is down.
