INTERVIEW: Spiel Studios

CG.biz: First of all, could you give me a brief history of your company?

Mohit Sureka: We are a development company with offices in USA, UK and a development centre in India. Spiel was founded in 2006 with a small team dedicated for mobile gaming and a focus of creating quality innovative games for mobile devices worldwide. In the past we have developed and published several titles for J2ME handsets since that was our main focus.

Since the last one year we have primarily been developing games for independent platforms like Sidekick (Danger), iPhone (Apple) and Android (Google). We also have a separate dedicated team developing games in Flash for the online casual gaming industry.

Apart from this, we are also official authorized Sony Playstation 2 and PSP development partners for which we provide 2D/3D Art and animation services.

We see ourselves becoming a complete game development house providing quality game development services for all platforms worldwide.

CG.biz: How established has the iPhone become in the Indian market?

MS: The iPhone has been released officially in India only a few months back, and hence it is at a very nascent stage. Also the price difference of purchasing an iPhone in India is very steep, compared to $200 you would pay in the USA for iPhone 3G, to approximately $700 you would need to shell out if you wished to buy the same model in India. However, despite the high prices and late release, there are quite a few owners of iPhone and has become a fashion gizmo. Now, with the advent of 3G network, iPhone will become even more popular and a useful device.

CG.biz: How has the arrival of the iPhone altered the mobile content market?

MS: Firstly, the way content is now distributed has been completely revolutionized by Apple. The consumers can now access the vast variety of content available easily via App Store, all under one roof. No more bad downloads or poor quality content. One of the major reasons why people refrain from downloading java games is due to sub-standard products and no quality checks. Now for every piece of content that goes live needs to get an approval, which is critical for the App Store success.

Also, consumers now have a choice to view screenshots, check player feedback, ratings, demo, etc. which again helps the consumer decide whether to buy, or not. Making the end consumer happy will always add value and help the whole chain and industry grow.

CG.biz: Also, how has the growth of iPhone affected your business?

MS: Since the past few months, iPhone has played a major role in the growth of our company. When the iPhone SDK was released, we merely had a couple of trainees learning the platform, but now, we have more iPhone game titles being produced compared to Java/Brew combined!

Since we wear the cap of both, publisher and developer, we not only produce our own game titles, but also help other developers and publishers, develop their games on iPhone. Due to the overwhelming response of the App Store, we have been developing more products for outside publishers than for our own selves!

CG.biz: Is the iPhone an opportunity for all casual games developers, or are some companies better placed than others to take advantage of it?

MS: With the number of titles available on the App Store, it is a known fact that it is not very difficult to develop on the iPhone provided you have access to the right and required resources. It is very important for any game development company to provide support for the iPhone as the demand will keep growing.

Companies who are already developing games for the handheld or mobile devices will surely have an added advantage as they would be able to relate to the game requirements for a smaller screen better, and will also be able to train people easier to adapt to the iPhone platform.

In our company, all our people are trained on the iPhone SDK in-house and start from ground-up basics before being assigned a project. Because of this we are able to maintain excellent quality across all our products irrespective of the individual who is responsible for development. This way knowledge is shared across all the team members in a unified manner which helps maintain a standard benchmark quality for all our titles.

CG.biz: How important is the Apple App Store to iPhone’s success?

MS: Looking from the publisher’s perspective, the Apple App Store has completely re-defined the nature of business and the relationship between the publisher and the consumer. Now, the publisher can directly interact and sell their products to the consumer and get feedback. The publishers no more need to rely on the mercy of telecom operators who pay a mere revenue share and strangle their neck.

The App Store has given a new lease of life to Mobile Gaming which was dying a slow but sure death. This is nothing less than a paradigm shift which was long awaited and I am sure other companies like Google, RIM, Nokia, Sony will follow suite and create their own market through which publishers/developers can directly sell their products to the end consumers.

CG.biz: How dominant do you think the iPhone will become, both in the mobile market and portable gaming market?

MS: I do not see any reason why the iPhone cannot compete with portable gaming devices like DS or the PSP. It is really upto the developers to maximise the true potential of the available hardware and push the technology to create better games. Also, I think it is more about the mindset of the publishers and the consumers who have stereotyped the iPhone as only a mobile phone with little or less gaming capabilities. If the consumers start paying the same amount as they would pay for a PSP game, I am sure, you will start seeing such games on the App Store very soon

Also it is upto Apple how they wish to present and sell their phone in the market, as a mobile phone, or as a gaming device – cum – phone. This would play a major role if they wish to take on Nintendo or Sony in the future.