In his Casual Connect Asia lecture, DeNA Lead Producer Kenneth Tan described the company’s collaboration with Blowfish Studios, Legends of Mora (working title). Kenneth outlined the benefit of bringing DeNA’s operational, analytical and market expertise to partner studios like Blowfish. “Creating a game is no walk in the park,” he says. “Creating a game and making it stand out in a sea of 500 launches per day on iOS alone, now that’s difficult. Creating a game and making sure it’s financially successful on top of all that — that’s an almost insurmountable task.”
Kenneth Tan, Lead Producer at DeNA Asia Pacific, maintains, “Creativity has to be married to factual insights and a compelling reason why an investment will yield returns.” This, he believes, is the only way to convince key stakeholders to invest time and money into your concept. And he treats his directors in the same way, always being prepared with concise pitches.
He is responsible for the conceptualizing of new products that will intrigue and delight audiences worldwide. Ensuring the quality and creative vision of DeNA’s titles is an obligation he has enthusiastically assumed.
The Path to Game Producer
Kenneth was inspired to become part of the games industry through his early obsession with SNES and Final Fantasy 6. He was especially fascinated with the intricate storytelling and the many memorable characters. Becoming so engrossed in an interactive fictional world was a revelation to him and he was determined to create an interactive world of his own.
He completed his studies in art and design at Nanyang Polytechnic, but just at that time the games industry experienced a downturn, leaving him unable to get the work he wanted. So he began working as a Photoshop Artist with the architectural firm VisualMediaWorks, perhaps a fortunate beginning since he had always been interested in both architecture and interior design. And what he learned there gave him an advantage in his next job as Game Artist with Gevo Entertainment. His art background has helped enormously in conceptualization and in conveying ideas. As he says, “It is always great to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve. What better way to explain than with the help of well-designed mockups?”
Later he began working at Nubee Pte Ltd as Art Director and then transitioned to Producer. His time with this company brought him one of the high points of his career: when his first title as Producer, Monster Blade, became a critical and financial success after reaching 2 million downloads in only two months and with no marketing budget. He credits much of this success to the tremendous effort the team put into community-building; the game gained more and more impetus through word of mouth.
A Culture of Trust
Seeking a new challenge after this successful title, he met with the Managing Director of DeNA Asia Pacific, Mr. Tetsuya Mori. Since he had always respected their culture of trust, he accepted the offer of a job as a Producer. He chose to make this change for one fundamental reason: his belief that their longevity and financial success came from the way their core values are upheld in every level of management and employment.
Kenneth particularly enjoys the opportunity his work with DeNA gives him to collaborate with talented developers all over the world but emphasizes that this would not be possible without the complete trust DeNA has in his abilities.
Currently he is directing Legends of Mora in partnership with Blowfish Studios, a company he considers incredibly talented. The game will be released later this year and has already received rave reviews from members of the press. Although Kenneth recognizes there is a long road ahead to reach the success he envisions for the game, he is very proud of the way it is turning out.
Tools and Technology
Effective tools are essential for Kenneth to support the developers at DeNA. Three of the most useful he has found are Trello, Unity and Google Docs. A paramount consideration was the ability to communicate well with developers who are not in the same studio. When implementing a feature into a game, they find Trello allows them to share multiple visual mockups. And for balancing a game live without submitting Apple updates, they use Google Docs, placing the entire game’s database there and making it accessible only to designers and core team members.
Looking Forward
As technology continues to change, Kenneth sees the demand for ever-improving user experience, polish and feedback. But he says, “Quality is the name of the game — and we strive to deliver it to our audience.”
Kenneth also notes the constant improvements in mobile tech; both network speed and screen size will be ideal for the next generation of multiplayer games. He suspects, “We might even see a true WoW for mobile in the coming years.”
You might expect the intensity of Kenneth’s career would have him placing work above all else. But, in fact, he loves spending time with family and friends, claiming, “A perfect afternoon for me would be a coffee with my beautiful wife while we catch up on the latest HBO or Netflix series.” And he values every opportunity to play soccer with his friends.
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