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Colony Studios Blasts Off
May 16,2007 - Colony Studios, a new development house co-founded by industry veteran Michael Wallis (EVE Online), recently made their way onto the scene and admittedly have an impressive collective resume backing their investment funding initiatives. Altogether, the group has contributed to the success of World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, EVE Online, Dark Age of Camelot, City of Heroes, Everquest, and Ultima Online. So, with a group so experienced, what do they hope to accomplish? Read our interview with Michael Wallis to find out.

Who are some of the core members of the Colony Studios team that you can safely mention? It can’t just be you.

Michael Wallis: It’s certainly not just me. I have the privilege of working with some of the most experienced game developers around, who have significantly contributed to the successes of some of the most popular MMOs out there, including WoW, LOTRO, EVE, DAoC, City of Heroes, Everquest, and UO. We’re not ready to announce our other team members just yet, but we plan to do so within the next 30-90 days.
Colony Studios release just a few concept images of their sci-fi MMO.

What spurred you to collaborate with one another to create an entirely new development house, and what’s your ultimate goal?

Michael Wallis: The average tenure of each member of our dev team is over 9 years of experience in the game industry. At some point, we’ve had the good fortune of working with one another. We wanted to set up a studio where we could develop a next generation MMO that pushes the genre and doesn’t just create another “me too” MMO. Sure, we will have familiar aspects to existing MMOs, but the core game mechanics should entice and compel players to log in and experience our universe.

Were you all formerly in contact with one another? If not, how did you go about convening with one another?

Michael Wallis: The gaming industry is a small place. You forge more than a few lasting relationships over the years and sometimes when an opportunity arises you call on the friends you have made to come and work on a project. This was a compelling experience for us all, but it was a challenge we all wanted to tackle head on.

There have been countless other startup studios in the past, and although this one does admittedly seem promising, what makes Colony Studios any different from those that have failed in the past? Even the best ideas fall short sometimes.

Michael Wallis: Colony possesses immediate advantages: A seasoned core group of developers who not only all have experience working in the game industry, but who also have significant MMO development experience. Because we are licensing middleware technology to power our game, we don’t need to spend a lot of development cycles on creating technology. Instead, we can jump right in and start working on game systems, scripting, and art creation.

Are there any pressures from your investment group, or does your track record keep them at bay? Was it easy to get investment?

Michael Wallis: Securing investment is never easy (unless the founders fund the company themselves). Colony had the opportunity to meet with a forward thinking group of angel investors who not only saw the benefits of being in this market, but who also liked our team’s experience level and our ideas. It was the whole package we presented to them that ultimately persuaded them to invest in our new studio.

Colony is now looking for our next round of Series A funding and we have started conversations with interested potential investment groups. I am confident we will secure the funds needed to move development of our project into the pre-production stage.

Concept Image #2
Do you expect the work that comes from your new studio to be more fulfilling than your previous work when you worked for larger companies?

Michael Wallis: Typically, it’s always more fulfilling to work for yourself than it is to work for someone else. Because Colony employees are also shareholders, everyone thus far has been extremely self-motivated to produce the best playable build possible. Our conversations with potential employees have gone over very well, again because we are offering not only competitive pay, but also stock options which translate into ownership in the studio itself.

What challenges have you faced as a new development studio working on its very first project?

Michael Wallis: Our current hurdle to overcome is to secure the next level of funding for the studio. After that, it will be to ramp up into full production. Ramping up to that stage is probably going to be our largest challenge to date. The sheer amount of personnel needed to create an MMO is staggering. Fortunately, we have a very qualified core team who can take on many of the tasks themselves as new hires train and overcome the initial learning curve.
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6/27/07 - 1:37 AM
Joined:
6/25/07
cool :)
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