Business veterans Tina Merry and Carina Kom have fashioned a brand new studio, Simply Sweet Games.
Headquartered in British Columbia, Canada, Simply Sweet Games is a totally distant studio that’s presently growing its inaugural cell title – the roguelike phrase puzzle Criss Cross Castles.
Merry and Kom have over thirty years of expertise in AAA, cell, and indie sport improvement. Merry labored at Digital Arts for almost 15 years as a improvement director, having overseen improvement and transport of titles similar to FIFA, Want for Pace, and Battlefield.
Kom additionally labored for EA as a improvement supervisor between 2020 and 2022, and has collaborated with Microsoft and Unity. She was additionally a sport designer for BlueBat Games and East Facet Games, in addition to a co-founder and producer for Crash Wave Games.
“[Criss Cross Castles] aims to entice each devoted roguelike gamers and those that aren’t conventional followers by combining the complexities of phrase video games with the dynamic gameplay of roguelikes, creating a novel crossover style,” Simply Sweet Games CEO Merry tells GamesIndustry.biz.
“In the world of cell video games, it is robust to supply one thing distinctive that may stand out amongst the established giants,” she notes. “By merging the finest points of phrase video games and roguelikes, [we’re aiming] to create an enticing and enjoyable expertise for everybody.”
Each co-founders have collaborated on quite a few occasions inside the trade, similar to Range in Games and the PVP Leisure Guild. The thought to kind a studio occured after a gathering at GDC in 2023 following Kom’s determination to step again from her position at MixMob.
“Inside a brief span, we made the decisive dedication to wholeheartedly launch a brand new studio, pushed by our shared ardour for innovation and inclusivity in the gaming world,” Merry says.
Simply Sweet’s co-founders determined to transfer away from AAA to “craft inclusive and accessible experiences” for gamers and to reduce the dangers related to AAA sport improvement, similar to rising prices and prolonged improvement cycles.
“The inherent nature of indie video games allows us to carry our creations swiftly and affordably to market and adapt with agility to our audiences’ evolving preferences,” Merry explains.
“Our objective is to improve the probabilities of success for traders and companions by specializing in a extra sustainable and responsive strategy.”
And whereas they’re specializing in cell for the time being with Criss Cross Castles, that is not to say that consoles and PCs aren’t out of the query.
“The inherent nature of indie video games allows us to carry our creations swiftly and affordably to market and adapt with agility to our audiences’ preferences”
“As we prolong our attain and sport choices, we’re dedicated to steady refinement, iterating, and exploring various platforms, together with PC, Change, and streaming websites,” Merry provides.
To face out additional amongst different titles in the phrase puzzle style, the duo is betting on a premium enterprise mannequin somewhat than free-to-play for Criss Cross Castles.
“The thought is to create a sophisticated, deep, and ad-free expertise that may elevate the bar for the entire trade,” Merry provides. “And to guarantee that the expertise is seamless and gratifying, analytics are used to anticipate participant wants.”
Merry and Kom plan on doing this by constantly enhancing their video games by specializing in participant testing to collect insights earlier than and after launch.
“This technique not solely retains the sport recent but additionally underscores our dedication to inclusivity and accessibility in design, recognising the various preferences inside our participant base.”
As for their hopes for the studio, Merry says they need Simply Sweet Games to be rooted in variety and inclusivity.
“We would like Simply Sweet Games to be round for a really very long time and aspire to be a model that’s synonymous with inclusion, respect, and enjoyable, bringing video games to market in a celebration of worldwide collaboration, creativity, and accessibility.”
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