Features// Games Industry Insights with Jon Lander of CCP

Posted 1 Jan 2013 11:00 by Svend Joscelyne

As 2013 comes into sharp focus, SPOnG turns to the real video games experts: the people who actually make games. We have posed the same five key questions to some of the most interesting and insightful publishing and development figures in the global games industry. We got their unedited, open and highly informed opinions and we are publishing them in multi-part series of insights.

Industry Figure: Jon Lander
Job Title: Executive Producer
Company: CCP
Best Known For: EVE Online

SPOnG: In what ways has the rise in tablet and mobile gaming proven beneficial/challenging to your work?

Jon Lander: We certainly see that tablet and mobile usage means we have to make this a key part of our strategy going forwards. For some time now we have been working on our CREST technology which will enable much richer development options for both ourselves and third parties outside of our traditional clients. This is being rolled out step by step and it lays out a great framework for CCP to take advantage of these rapidly growing channels.

SPOnG: What's your opinion of cloud gaming? Have Gakai and OnLive helped with perception?

Jon Lander: I think this is a really interesting area and the early adopters are certainly making some noise. Anything which makes gaming more available and open to a greater number of players is a good thing and cloud gaming certainly helps with this.

SPOnG: Crowd-sourcing (i.e. Kickstarter) has become a popular method for games developers to pitch their projects. What's your opinion of it? Would you use it? Have you?

Jon Lander: We are in a great position where we don’t need Kickstarter to raise fund for our projects. Saying that though, I think it is a great way to test ideas out early and cheaply so that developers get a good steer on if their ideas are capturing the imagination of potential players. A lean startup way of thinking is usually a good thing and I think Kickstarter gives great venue for this.