Interviews// Pristontale II, The Creative Force

Toni Garcia: From the creative point of view, we've been looking for the best games all over the world. We decided to go ahead with Pristontale II because Pristontale I was the winner of the best game in Korea in 2003. So, after that they (the Korean publisher, Suba Games) decided to go ahead with Pristontale II as a big production. They invested $8 million (£4.3 million, or €5.45 million) at the very beginning and they've been working for four years with a big, big team.

So, after that we arrived. We've been working with some European artists to add some new creations at the end of the game.

So, first of all, this is a high-quality MMORPG. But second, from Key-to-Play also, we are creating a portal that is taking care of the players, of their requirements. We want to be close to the players, because we are players. We've been playing. We know what the problems are. When you've got a problem and nobody answers, or when you're expecting something really brilliant and at the end of the day the translation is not very good, or you have technical problems constantly in your game. We know of all these problems, we are gamers.

So, we decided to go ahead with a great portal offering good service. And we're close to the gamers. If they have a problem, they can contact us. If they are from France, we'll answer them in French. If they're from the UK, we'll answer them in English...

We're trying to make something that's good quality with good service. That's the secret, there's no other thing!


SPOnG: So, this is the first game Key-to-Play has published?

Jesus Diaz: Yes, this is our first game.

Toni Garcia: As it's our first game, we're taking so much care because it's our baby!

Jesus Diaz: It's the first one for the public, and now it's the king!

Toni Garcia: Now it's the king of our family. You've seen the show today, we're trying to do something really special.


SPOnG: Why the free-to-play model? Was that your decision?

Jesus Diaz: It was. Basically we think that Pristontale II could be on a level with the best games. In terms of quality and the level of service we are providing to gamers, of the whole universe of games that right now are on the market. And it's the only one of its type that's free to play. The other games on the market, even where you have to pay, are not of the quality that we think Pristontale II has.

We think that this business model is growing up in Europe. We strongly believe in it.

Toni Garcia: We are confident in the game. We think that the most honest way to show that the game is good is to make it free to play. We can persuade you that the game is as good as one you'd pay for at retail.