Sebastian Barabanow outlined some of the ups and downs he’s faced through a decade in the games industry during his Casual Connect Europe speech. He laid out definition of success grounded in reality, not in the industry’s few cases of runaway success. “When you’re starting, and you only see the silver lining, those shining kind of results, you might get the wrong expectations for your future and lose focus of what should be in front of you.
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Sebastian Barabanow is CEO and owner of Game Factory, an outsource game development studio based in Szczecin, Poland. In 2005, after a career as a freelance graphic artist, he was looking for a new challenge, and founding his company seemed the next logical step. He began by building the company around his existing clients but didn’t immediately find success; the company simply offered too broad a spectrum of graphic services. He discovered a better plan when he focused on the niche market of games and games alone, especially since working on games had been by far the most interesting aspect of his previous career. In the 10 years since then he has been gradually growing the company and building it to its current potential.
Step by Step Toward His Own Company
The facet of his work that he finds most enjoyable is working with people. Although it can be frustrating at times, it is always inspiring. “That is what has pushed the progress of humanity throughout history — the ability to work together,” he says. “Even though, as a species, we can really be quite nasty to each other at times.”
Barabanow admits it is quite difficult to track all the small steps that led him to be where he is now. He did not make any huge, enlightened decision to become an artist, work as a freelancer or to found his own company. He sees the progress of his career as a linear process; each step now appears logical but may have been intuitive at the time. Or lucky. He speculates: “It may have been the combination of luck, certain aspects of character, both good and bad, and decisions that I made, only because they felt right, that brought me to this point. But it’s hard to say after all these years.”
His previous career as a freelancer has given him a number of advantages in the work he is doing today. It taught him difficult lessons about competition, communication and working with clients. It strengthened his existing skills and added a few new ones. And it allowed him to make rookie mistakes in a setting where the consequences were not severe.
Barabanow’s first steps in the game industry were coincidental. In 2002 he was approached by a small company interested in making Flash games. At the time it appeared to be just another commission, but it quickly turned out to be the highlight of his professional work.
The Most Fun Industry on the Planet
He finds it great fun to work on games. In fact, he claims, “It’s the most fun industry on the planet!” As an artist, the work he does is in front, the first thing players see and react to. But it is also elevated by the input of others, developers, animators and composers, who turn it into a full, complex experience.
He says, “I remember vividly the first time my level sketches and designs came to life as a 3D environment I could walk around in and interact with. It was powerful!”
Occasionally, as with many creative people, he fantasizes about working instead at something manual that would free up his overheated brain. But he admits this lasts only about five minutes before he knows he wouldn’t be doing anything else in the world.
Running a company involves a constant stream of challenges and obstacles to overcome, such as competition, quality expectations from the market, constant demand for talent, human interactions and pure bad luck. Although it may sound harsh, the only way he has found to handle these challenges is to face them. As he emphasizes, “Nobody cries over failed companies, and there is no parachute to soften the fall.”
And while dealing with these challenges puts character to a serious test, what has helped him most are two simple qualities: honesty and empathy. “Clients are more likely to work with people who really care; employees are more likely to work hard for you if they feel you’re being honest with them, everything gets simpler on a human interaction level. And that interaction is the key.”
Barabanow has no one moment that he remembers as the outstanding time in his career. Instead, in the ups and downs of his life, previous successes fade, opening the way for even grander things. Perhaps the next great moment is just around the corner.
Looking Forward
He believes cloud gaming may be the next big trend in the games industry. It has not really taken off yet, although Playstation Now is demonstrating new possibility. Because today we value our mobility and expect games to be part of our daily life, even when we are away from computers and desktops, he sees cloud gaming as the next logical step, especially since mobile games do not satisfy the needs of all gamers.
He also believes VR could become important, although it is probably too niche to ever become a big trend.
Game Factory does not have short-term plans to become involved in either of these but will be looking for opportunities in the future.
Barabanow is a dedicated gamer despite having very limited time. So he chooses games that, as he puts it, “squeeze out the most awesomeness per second, have a strong story and an immersive world.” For him these are FFP games. He loved Fallout 3 for its “fantastic, rich and interesting world.” He spent more time wandering around in that world than doing the main quest line, and definitely intends to go back there again.
He spreads his free time between his family, gaming and occasionally sports. He enjoys football, although he says he is not good at it. He also enjoys winter sports such as snowboarding, and hopes he is better at that than football.
