UK-based independent developer and racing specialist Eutechnyx has produced more than 350 titles in its 23 history and currently employs over 160 staff across studios in the UK, the US and China. Following the announcement that it had secured a £6 million investment led by Amsterdam-based Prime Technology Ventures, we caught up with the company’s chief operating officer, Darren Jobling, to discuss how the money will be spent, the firm’s expansion into the casual online games market, the benefits of staying independent, and the challenges facing both the racing game market and the wider industry at present.
You recently said that 2010 is going to be Eutechnyx’s most exciting year yet. Can you tell us what you’re working on right now and what stages the projects are at?
Auto Club Revolution (ACR), a free to play micro transaction driving game aimed at the casual online space, is in full production.
Ride To Hell for Deep Silver is a PS3 and Xbox 360 action adventure game based on late '60s biker gang culture in the USA and is about 50 per cent through development.
And a licensed title on PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. More on this in the summer of this year.
In Eutechnyx’s 20-plus years of game development it has worked with huge licences like Ferrari, James Bond and Formula One. How does the licence for your “ground-breaking new title” compare?
ACR is a ground breaking title - taking console quality into the free to play casual online game space. I feel strongly that this transition of know-how is the biggest opportunity available to developers at this time. Although ACR does feature a number of big licenses, the game itself is original IP. We have taken the jigsaw puzzle of a driving game, smashed it up and then re-assembled it in a totally different fashion. It's one of the most exciting projects I have worked on in 20 years.
Can you hint at any of the key features of your big new racing project?
Not yet unfortunately - we are playing our cards close to our chest at the present time.
You recently secured a £6 million investment. How will the money be spent?
The bulk of the investment will be spent on talent. Wwe have always invested in the best developers but we are also looking to attract disciplines not usually associated with console development, such as marketing, community management, customer support, etc.. We have already started with some big name hires, such as Ed Martin from EA, and there are more to be announced over the coming months. In addition we'll be investing in online infrastructure and marketing for ACR and additional licenses for future Eutechnyx games.
You’re expanding into casual online games with a free-to-play racing MMO. Was this decision purely based on the growth potential of the casual online game space, or were there other factors involved like a genuine appreciation of these types of games?
The idea for ACR came to me over three years ago at GDC in San Francisco. This was before the real take off in player numbers for casual games in the west. However, with owning two studios in China, we were aware first hand of the potential in the market and where we believed the industry would be heading. The casual games being played online now remind me of the games we were publishing as Zeppelin Games over 20 years ago - a particularly exciting time to be in the games industry. Re-creating some of that magic while bringing games to where we think they should be in the 2010's is at the heart of ACR.