“It is almost impossible to define an indie these days,” Simon Jeffery said during a panel at Casual Connect USA 2014. “I think when the media talks about indies, they talk about Mom-and-Pops, guys working in their basement, small developers. Not necessarily people who have a bunch of funding. However, I guess the reality is if you’re not a public company or not owned by someone, you are an indie.”
Simon Jeffery is a virtual exec, which he says means he does C-level executive work for companies, rather than being a full-time employee. As well, he is co-founder of Invisiplay, head of publishing at Backflip Studios and chief gaming evangelist at Thalmic Labs.
A Man Of Many Hats
He feels incredibly fortunate to have worked at some wonderful places for some crazily talented people. In the past, he has been chief publishing officer at ngmoco, president and COO at Sega of America, president and COO at LucasArts, and director of international business at LucasArts.
He got his start in the games industry at Electronic Arts Europe in 1987. He claims he did it by writing over and over to the managing director, until the man finally got tired of hearing from him and gave him a job in customer support.
The Soul Of A Jedi
In his extremely successful career, some of the most rewarding moments came with the Star Wars games, such as Knights of the Old Republic, released by LucasArts. He says, “I put my heart and soul into that stuff.” He continues in the games industry because “it is the coolest, most fun industry that exists.”
For his personal gaming, he is playing Plundernauts, which he considers a marvelous game, on iOS. He seems to be very constant gamer, playing on mobile, PC, and console. But he doesn’t appear to have strong preferences for either Android or iOS. He has an Android phone which he uses 24/7, and he plays games on his iPad. He plays mobile games anywhere he can get a signal or WiFi.
His console gaming is done on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, Wii and Wii U; he owns them all simply because he wants them.
Jeffery believes the next important and exciting trend coming to the games industry will be wearable tech. He insists, “Everyone needs to be looking at how UI will change. Wearable tech will change gaming control more than touchscreens.”
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