A year ago, four men jacked in their senior jobs at successful UK developers to go it alone under the name of Hello Games. The team, three coders and an artist, moved into a single, small room in an office building in Guildford and began to make a game, by themselves, for PC, 360 and PS3. Principal Sean Murray, who was technical lead at Criterion on such games as Burnout 3 and Black before taking a role at Kuju, sold his house to fund the company.
We met Murray and technical director Ryan Doyle, with whom Murray first worked at Criterion on the Burnout series, to talk about their journey so far, why they decided to take the risk of doing things themselves, and how just four people can make a game for modern consoles.
You’ve both held leading positions at distinguished developers – why did you make the jump to going alone?
SM I guess we started off this company because we’ve always enjoyed playing games and we’ve always wanted to make games – so all of us have worked in the industry before. I think that starting a company is the next stage on, it’s something we’d always wanted to do.
RD At Criterion, I thought you were mad. Like, "Yeah, yeah, right, I’m happy here, all fine and dandy," but then, a few years down the line, it sounds like a good idea.
SM It actually starts to become achievable. A bunch of things have happened in the games industry that make you think you could potentially have a company – with digital downloads, there’s a route to market so a small team of four like us could create something.
Have any friends and colleagues done the same sort of thing, showing it was possible?
RD We knew some of the guys who set up Media Molecule.
SM I know it was something Alex [Evans] and Kareem [Ettouney] always wanted to do. We know lots of people who’ve tried it and maybe have or haven’t been as successful.
RD It’s surprising actually, when we were at Criterion and we joined EA, the number of people at EA had done it in the past. Most of them had obviously failed or they wouldn’t be back, but it’s something that motivated us: we thought, "Well everybody’s at least given it a shot". We all knew we knew how to make a game. What we didn’t know was publishing or setting up an office and all the legal stuff. That stuff was all interesting to learn.
SM For everyone you talk to in the industry setting up your own company was their dream on starting. That’s why you see so many people on iPhone and the internet – once the opportunity is there, there’s a lot of people who want to take it.
Where do you trace your interest in making games to?
SM I remember starting off in Doom, making my own levels. And [co-founders] David [Ream] and Grant [Duncan] have said that that’s what they were doing at the exact same time, a couple of hundred miles away. I think there was a point in the industry 15 years ago when it seemed like all the great games were something that you could go and make yourself. I remember talking to Cliffy B on forums when I was making Unreal levels. A lot more small teams made the top games. There wasn’t the same indie scene – it almost seemed like everyone was an indie, and they were all making great games.