Even if you possess the most stunning design, genius developers, a super-engaging idea and a well-developed strategy, a game for a celebrity can still fall flat on its face. Find out Kuulu Interactive Entertainment AG’s secret with Jendrik Pösche at Casual Connect Europe 2015. In his presentation, he advised, “Treat the project as the soul of the company, meaning that everyone has to know what the game is about, has to play the game, has to like the game”. He offered many other key points in making any game, especially when working with celebrities.
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Jendrik Pösche is the Executive Producer at Kuuluu Interactive Entertainment AG, overseeing all games development and coordinating with external teams and external licensees. He began working with Kuuluu in 2011 when he was developing an external product for them. Currently he is working on the Linkin Park Game Recharge project. Jendrik has been developing games for more than twenty-five years and has released and produced over 100 games on various platforms. Prior to working with Kuuluu he co-founded several companies, including Tagtoes, a publisher of smart gaming apps for children.
The Long Learning Process to Building a Successful Gaming Franchise
At age thirteen, he developed a game for the Commodore 64 home system, and, although the learning process was a long road, he never gave up, but continued developing more and more games. His career began as a programmer, something which allowed him to gain valuable insight into the technical aspects of game development. Over time, he has also been able to build an extensive network of professional contacts in the games industry.
The most personally rewarding accomplishment in his career came through building a successful gaming franchise with one product leading over 100 million downloads and spawning over thirty different games.
The creativity involved in making games particularly excites him; making games people enjoy playing is incredibly rewarding for him. He also finds great satisfaction in making sure the games not only fun to play, but are completed on time. The opportunity to meet a variety of people is an added bonus in his work.
As the person responsible for the success of a project, Jendrik spends much of his work leading and managing the teams. For his team members he looks first for people with motivation and perseverance; appropriate experience is also important to him. The most difficult attribute he seeks is an out-of-the-box thinker.
Working with these creative people presents its own challenges; it is a balancing act to keep the team working together in the best possible way. Handling these challenges requires patience, social skills, and his own out-of-the-box thinking. Constant communication is his method of managing complications within the team.
Everyone Is Involved In Creating A Game
At Kuuluu, the company philosophy is that everyone is involved in creating a game, at least to the extent of being aware of it and playing it at every build. This is their first step in testing the product. The most interesting response he has had to games testing came with players not understanding the tutorial to Linkin Park Recharge, so they simply skipped it.
As publishers, they experiment with all monetization methods. They have found the most effective method varies with the particular game.
The most difficult situation Jendrik has faced in his work came when a game was not ready to be released on schedule. The game was supposed to come out with the release of a new single, since it was linked to it. They solved the problem by releasing the game at that time as beta and then releasing the full game when the new album came out.
Jendrik expects the industry to see mobile gaming to continue becoming more and more powerful over the next several years. The inclusion of additional sensors and motion trackers will provide new opportunities for different games.
He is enormously interested in new technologies in relation to gaming; in fact, much of his non-work time is still spent behind his computer or gaming consoles.
