At Casual Connect Europe, Ella Romanos gave a preview of Drop The Fruit HTML5, the game they are creating for Spil Games.
Growing Into A Role
Right after graduating university, Ella Romanos co-founded Remode Studios. While at university, she had done a placement with Specialmoves, a small company whose founders were very supportive of her desire to start her own company. Her background is in programming, but as Remode has grown, she has found herself taking on additional responsibilities for the studio and now focuses on business strategy and development.
Romanos’ excitement about the games industry comes through loud and clear as she tells us, “This whole journey has been an amazing experience so far, and I feel like I’m just at the start. Making our first profit was a big moment and, in turn, led to us being able to develop our own IP. This was our goal from day one, so getting to that moment was incredible.”
Romanos claims the best part of working in the games industry is the people you meet. She says, “I love meeting new people, and the games industry is full of talented, funny and interesting souls.” She also admits to enjoying the business side of the industry more and more as Remode continues to grow.
Standing Out with Collaboration
The biggest challenge Romanos has found in the games industry is standing out. The marketplace is crowded with so many games that it is difficult to be noticed. At Remode, they mitigate the challenge by collaborating with publishers and partners. This allows them to increase their network and skills base. However, they do hope to bring these skills in house in the future.
Over the next few years, Romanos expects HTML5 and WebGL to be massive trends because they are accessible and cross-platform, so they offer fewer barriers to entry. Remode Studios is already anticipating this development by incorporating this technology into their projects. Their goal is to become a market leader, so they are investing heavily into R & D.
Always on the Go
When we asked Romanos how she spends her free time, she said, “It’s a case of when I’m not working, I’m working.” On those rare occasions when she is really not working, she enjoys snowboarding and scuba diving. She also plays the violin and hopes to do more of it. And she loves to cook!
As with everyone in this industry, she enjoys playing games, with iPad and iPhone her favorite platforms. Currently she plays several games, each for a different reason: Super Hexagon because “I am rubbish at it and it annoys me”, Spaceteam since it is “the funniest game ever in a pub”, and Ending because, “I just can’t say no to a good puzzle”.
Comments
