Kevin Balentine of Stargate Worlds Interviewed
Posted January 24th, 2007 by Ethec
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The New Face of CME
Kevin Balentine, PR Manager for Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, talks to Ten Ton Hammer about Stargate Worlds
by Nicole "Awen" Hamlett
January 29, 2007 - Stargate Worlds (official site) is one of the most anticipated titles on the MMORPG horizon. With the upcoming series finale of Stargate: SG1, it gives players a chance to continue the saga of the SG1 team. While there are still development plans for spin-offs and movies, fans of the show look forward to experiencing the full rich environment that they’ve come to love in the last ten years.
 Kevin Balentine |
Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, the developer making Stargate Worlds, is going through a few changes these days. One of the changes is Kevin Balentine, CME's new PR manager. I had a chance to chit chat with him and the marketing director Jay Adan. Find out more about CME's new addition and why he thinks that Stargate Worlds is bound for success below.
Nicole Hamlett, Ten Ton Hammer: Kevin, you're new with CME. What is your background? What were you doing before you jumped into the gaming industry?
| Kevin Balentine, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment: I spent 10 years in the newspaper industry. I started out as an intern with a small daily in East Texas, worked my way up to managing editor of a small chain of papers in suburban Dallas and then worked for three years as the automotive writer for The Dallas Morning News. That's right; I drove a new car every week and then wrote about it. |
Ten Ton Hammer: What a horrible job- having to drive a new car every week!
| Kevin: Someone has to do it. |
Ten Ton Hammer: What made you make the leap into gaming?
| Kevin:Well, I'm an old-school gamer myself, miniatures games and pen and paper RPG's mostly. I felt like I had just about topped out in the newspaper industry and I wanted to try something new. |
Ten Ton Hammer:And well, the game industry is fun right?
| Kevin:It's an exciting industry ... plus, there are the games. |
Ten Ton Hammer: Um... working at a newspaper vs. getting to play Stargate Worlds for free? I'd take CME any day! (Laughs)
So now that we have the squishy questions out of the way, both Jay and yourself probably have a plan of attack on how to market Stargate Worlds to a consumer base that some say is saturated. What is the big plan?
| Kevin: The fantasy segment is saturated. The science-fiction segment is still wide open. Stargate has a built-in fan base that has been waiting for something like this to come along. We get to start from that base that is already excited about SGW and grow from there. CME started very early on with a community site to get feedback and input from the fans. Community is a cornerstone of our marketing efforts. |
An Exclusive Concept Art Shot from Stargate Worlds |
Ten Ton Hammer: Do you think that the chances of success just got larger due to the fact that Stargate Worlds is the only way people are going to get more of the SG-1 scenario?
| Kevin: MGM recently announced two movies that will continue the Stargate SG-1 story and a second spin off series set in the Stargate universe. I think the expansion of the IP is good news for Stargate Worlds. Anything that builds excitement about the Stargate universe helps raise our profile and reach a wider audience. |
Ten Ton Hammer: I'd like to go back to your statement that the fantasy market has been saturated but not the Sci-Fi. To date, none of the Sci-Fi MMOs have been terribly successful. Take Earth and Beyond, Matrix and even Star Wars Galaxies. What makes SGW different?
Kevin: We've got two things stacked in our favor: One, we have a truly world-class development team that has been assembled over the last year and a half. Our credits read like a who's who in gaming. Two, we've got several different gameplay options that will appeal to a wide variety of gamers. Oh, and of course, the Stargate is the perfect jumping off point for an MMORPG. |
Ten Ton Hammer: Is there anything upcoming that we can look forward to from the team?
| Kevin:We're making plans to go to Vancouver in March to be a part of Creation's Stargate Convention. We're real excited about meeting the fans face to face and telling them where we are at that point. |
Ten Ton Hammer: So you're going to be headed to Vancouver in March, what can we expect to see from that Con? A follow up to that - Who on the team will we get to see there?
| Kevin: We're working out the details. We want to bring out some of our rock stars, the developers who are building this great game. These guys will be able to talk about where we have been and where we are going with Stargate Worlds. |
Ten Ton Hammer:Do you have the dates when your team will be speaking?
| Kevin: The schedule hasn't been set yet. But we will keep you in the loop when we make the announcement. |
I'd like to thank both Kevin and Jay for speaking with me. You can see more screens and read more about Stargate Worlds on Ten Ton Hammer's Stargate Worlds Wiki page. We'll keep you updated on when and where you'll get to see the team in action as soon as the news hits.
Ten Ton Hammer is your unofficial source for Stargate Worlds news and features!
Genre: Science Fiction
Status: Closed Beta
Release Date: TBA
Fee: TBA
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