Mad as a Hatter in VR & AR
Interview with Oscar Clark from Unity 3D
Oscar Clark, games designer, consultant and Evangelist for Unity Technologies, has been encouraging developers with his expertise in gameplay best practices for years, helping to improve their development and make killer experiences. Wearer of many hats and a veteran of online, mobile and console games services, he’s also a monetisation expert and data maestro — check out his Analytics & The Player Lifecycle post and webinar — We caught up with him:
Q As Evangelist at Unity Technologies you help developers overcome the hurdles they may be facing with changes in emerging technology. Is there an underlying theme arising which may stop a potential success?
The key thing is having a focus on you audience; but this has become more complicated as now our players also have their own audience. Social connections are incredibly important to games whether that’s directly with your gaming friends or indirectly with video sharing of gameplay.
Q Personally, what do you find most exciting about VR & AR today?
It’s the potential to explore new ways to play and tell stories. Think about how ‘Keep Talking And No-one Explodes’ delivers a completely absorbing experience and yet still allows me to communicate with the other people in the room with me; or the way Eve Valkyrie lets me feel that I am a real starship pilot fighting other real players live. Then there are the narrative pieces like Allumette which pulls together a beautiful moving diorama that has the feel of theatre and yet the animation of film. As Al Jolson once said “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”
Q You authored Games as a Service — and encouraged developers to create free play design — what are the bare bones of this strategy?
Basically this is about realising that we should be focused on building Utility (value) for our players from within the game; reasons for them to continue playing and hopefully also to spend money with us in ways which make everyone’s play more enjoyable. Who is better at selling your game? The Appstore which has 500+ new games everyday or you as the designer? More than that, Games As A Service is about recognising that we are building a long term relationship with players and want to keep them playing (and hopefully watching Opt-In Ads and paying too for things they value!).
However, this model is also about scale and AR/VR isn’t in that territory yet. For now we are more likely to see games which focus on learning what the platform can offer to an audience who can become advocates to grow the market. That often means building amazing one-off experiences which dedicated fans will love and pay for in advance. It also means that every time a game is released which makes someone sick, or otherwise damages their experience, it will drag us all down and delay the adoption. Quality matters and I am sure thats something the AR/VR App Stores absolutely appreciate.
Q Your recent trip to Jordan took you to the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) where you were on the panel of judges- what was your biggest takeaway from this event?
There are two key things I learned (apart from how amazingly welcoming Jordan was to us). First, the Arabic market potential is huge and largely undeserved. This is not just a question of language however, and also means taking into account the needs of the region from a cultural perspective. Secondly, it was the power of passion. Here is a country in the middle of the Middle-East investing in the passion of its youth by using games development to drive growth and with surprisingly good results despite how fresh the industry is there. Oh and there were more women attending the event than I have ever seen in any other region.
Q Tell us a bit about your Rocky Horror show inspired app that you’ve created
I’ve been a fan of Rocky Horror since I was 18 and when the chance to make a game based on it came up, I did that ‘Jump to the Left’. Working with any brand really means you have to deeply understand it and in particular the sources which lead to its emergence. That means to me that we have to respect the old Sci-fi and Horror B-Movies as well as the way that the Cult following engages. For us its always about audience partici….. pation.
Q What other advice would you give to developers wanting to create some amazing experiences?
Have a vision for what you are setting out to achieve; then simplify and simplify some more. Players usually need a frame of reference, something familiar as a starting point before they can accept new ideas without getting confused. But then, change one thing in a way which transitions their expectations but also makes a perfect use of the medium. Don’t try to make Call of Duty in VR; try to re-imagine the experience of a soldier in WW2 using the constraints and opportunities that VR presents us.
Q Are you looking forward to speaking at VRAR With The Best in December?
Of course! — what a great way to connect with other creative minds who are focused on delivering amazing experiences!
We can’t wait for you to join us Oscar! Thank you!
Oscar will be opening the second day of our upcoming VRAR With The Best, Online Developer Conference with his Keynote: You don’t have to be mad to VR/AR… But It Helps on Sunday 4th December. Don’t miss it!
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