Industry Figure: Christofer Sundberg
Job Title: Chief Creative Officer
Company: Avalanche Studios
Best Known For: Just Cause, Renegade Ops
Avalanche is a studio that's known for chaos. Its Just Cause series allows players to go to a fictional tropical island and blow almost everything up in the name of justice. And Renegade Ops puts you in the driving seat of a minigun-wielding jeep in a game that harks back to classic shooters like Desert Strike.
With E3 just round the corner, we asked chief creative officer Christofer Sundberg is he expects any real-life chaos. Here's what he had to say on Ouya and the console cycle.
We’re not entering the console generation too soon, for content, technical and gameplay reasons. Everything has evolved in those areas to such an extent that it’s time to move on. However, I do feel that the new consoles have been profiled like saviors of the games industry, which they are not.
The business models behind the games running on those consoles will be what make developers, publishers and platform holders successful. I see the release of the new platforms as a start of something new.
I hope we are headed for a climate where creators can make money on fair terms, leading to even more and better entertainment for players.
Ouya and Oculus Rift have generated a lot of positive buzz. How disruptive do you think these products will be when they are released to the public?
They are two completely different products. Ouya is a new platform and it will be up against PS4, Xbox One and Steam Box, so they need to push pretty hard to convince players to buy the console. I’d buy it because it’s a fantastic piece of hardware, and if the indie-scene does indeed have a harder time on next gen consoles, the Ouya will be a great alternative for them. I’m somewhat curious about how they will keep their store from becoming flooded though.
The Oculus Rift lets us experience the games we love in a completely new way. I recently got a kit and was completely blown away by how well it worked. Playing Team Fortress and the RiftCoaster demo made my mind spin – in a good way! There are so many things we can do to offer players a brand new open-world experience when playing an Avalanche Studios game with the Oculus Rift. Our subsidiary Expansive Worlds is currently looking into support for Oculus Rift in theHunter.
E3 this year will be lots of fun and I’m really looking forward to it. I hope to see a lot of innovation, both in terms of technology and gameplay. As a gamer, one of the things I am hoping for is an announcement from Valve.
Thanks to Christofer for his time.