Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Ten Ton Hammer: Your claim to fame (at least on your bio) is that you know how to manage work vs. real life in your studios. What does this mean? Perhaps you could summarize the problem that many industry workplaces suffer from and your solution to that problem.

Brett: I don’t claim to have all of the answers, but I certainly have a few (and some strong opinions). I’ve experienced it directly. As I said, the people and teams are everything. Working a team to the point that it disintegrates is, (in the most basic sense) mismanagement of a huge investment.

There seems to be a strong tendency in this industry to exploit the passion that very creative and talented people have for wanting to build something amazing. Combine that with poor management practices, a lack of understanding of how to consistently build quality software, and the creative chaos of game development – and you can have a very caustic environment. There needs to be a cultural and leadership commitment, from the top down, to build teams and process around efficient and healthy work patterns.  

Todd McFarlane, Director of Creative Art

Ten Ton Hammer: How has the “studio building” process been going for you and 38 Studios? Are you guys pretty much wrapped up with the hiring portion of the equation, or are you still doing some personnel acquisitions? If you are, or when you are, finished with that, what’s next on your list of things to do?

Brett: We have several phases of scaling planned. The studio operations staff is complete for now. And, except for some engineering staff, we are done with the first phase of hiring for the teams. Building an MMO is a huge task, so we’ll hit another hiring phase early next year, and several more after that as we scale for the product launch.

Ten Ton Hammer: In your OGDC presentation, your topic was focused on what it takes to create an MMO. Honestly, has there been anything that’s surprised you concerning the creation of 38 Studios’ first MMO title?

Brett: Honestly, no big surprises so far, but it’s still early in the process (so there is still plenty of time for surprises).  

Ten Ton Hammer: What sort of experiences at Midway and VR1 have translated over to your new position? How have these helped you? What sort of things have you had to “learn on the fly,” for the lack of a better phrase?

Brett: This is a question that I’ve asked myself a few times. There’s really not much on-the-fly going on here. We know very clearly what we need to do. Regarding some of my  past: Setting up teams and process, leading and managing organizations, building  and running studios, figuring out the best bang-for-the buck with resources and  technology, creating healthy and fun environments for building and delivering  great products: Many people work on these things their entire careers. I think I have a ton of experience, and I’m enjoying that I get to continue refining and learning.

Ten Ton Hammer: Speaking of VR1, in an interview you had with Team Xbox when you were on staff at VR1, you mentioned that you were ready to work on an MMO product. That was six years ago! What happened between then and now that kept you from the MMO space?  

Brett: A couple of things happened. VR1 certainly had some great MMO technology and a bright future in that direction. However, at that time, my best path was to join the newly formed EA-LA studio (previously Dreamworks Interactive), to work on the Medal of Honor franchise. Great team and great product, I certainly don’t regret that decision.

Curt Schilling, Founder and Chairman of 38 Studios

Following that, I had another great opportunity with Midway as Global Production Director, running the Austin studio. Again, another great opportunity that simply didn’t coincide with a specific MMO product. I consider this diversity of experience hugely valuable for the complexity of what we are taking on at 38 Studios.

Ten Ton Hammer: Now that you’re at 38 Studios and working on an MMO, what should we expect from your upcoming title? How will the 38 Studios MMO excel where so many other fantasy MMOs have fallen short?

Brett: You should expect an insanely cool product that completely monopolizes all of your personal time. The industry is changing so fast (in a good way), and there is so much that can be done better. The list of what we can do different or better is long and top-secret. In the most basic sense, our unfair advantage in the IP centers around R. A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane, coupled with an absolutely top notch dev team. And if that doesn’t make sense then I’m not sure I can explain it here.

Ten Ton Hammer: There’s been relatively little divulged about your upcoming title, besides the fact that it is a fantasy-based MMORPG. Are there any little tidbits that you could share with us about the game?   

Brett: One of our greatest challenges is managing expectation (and hype) around the IP. With very little active marketing and PR, we already have A TON of activity buzzing about what we are up to. We’re certainly not going to uncork that bottle before it’s ready.

Ten Ton Hammer: Thanks Brett, and I hope we hear more about 38 Studios’ MMOG very soon!

Ten Ton Hammer is your unofficial source for 38 Studios news and features!