Interviews// June Industry Insights: Andy Payne O.B.E.

Posted 10 Jun 2013 14:41 by Svend Joscelyne

As part of an ongoing series, SPOnG gets the unedited, open and highly informed opinions of developers, producers and more in the vast world of computer games.

Industry Figure: Andy Payne O.B.E.
Job Title: Entrepreneur and experienced CEO
Company: Gambitious, AppyNation, Mastertronic
Best Known For: A UK game publishing and development legend, also active with the GamesAid and Special Effect charities, and the Great Indie Games label.

To many in the games industry, Andy Payne needs no introduction. A legend in the UK development scene, Payne has been involved with many different projects from charity-based initiatives to indie games promotion - all while keeping an eye on long-serving publisher Mastertronic as its CEO.

It's his dedication to the UK industry and his desire to encourage interesting new projects that has earned him many accolades, one of which being an OBE for his work with organisations such as BAFTA, Get Games, UKIE and GamesAid.

He's at the forefront of the industry, which gives him a good idea of where the sea of change is currently moving. So we thought it a good idea to ask him how he felt about disruptive tech, the upcoming console generation and E3.

Andy Payne promoting Gambitious with Paul Hanraets

Do you feel that we are entering a new console generation too soon? Or can it not come soon enough? And why?

Absolutely not. It can’t come quick enough in terms of demand from gamers. But we need to redefine what we mean by console and generation going forward. In reality we are transitioning from a hardware to a software solution, but very slowly.

Devices are all connected to the internet nowadays and personal portability is pretty key in many homes. I think console as a word is becoming arcane. Let’s talk devices and then make sure we have amazing content to run on them shall we?

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?

It is notoriously expensive to launch any consumer product in this world, unless you get a groundswell of support. For me Oculus Rift is a real game changer and has got the gamers and the games developers around the world motivated to the point of frenzy. This could be the true next generation of games experiences. I sincerely hope it is and want to see OR successful.

Ouya, well that too is a bit disruptive, but less so. It is an Android device for home use really – I hope it does do well and does allow games developers a route to making some money. It’s a good thing and we need more good things!