An interview with a gifted developer and the CEO of Akupara Games, David Logan:
Akupara Games is an established
game developing / publishing studio based in Los Angeles, California. It is an
“indie for indies” support studio. It also helps its customers by carefully
selecting the game and then are fully dedicated to help in each game.
The recently developed company
has an esteemed position in the indie gaming market now with several launched
games. I feel very excited about the work of Akupara Games & decided to
approach them for an interview. They obliged me by approval. The interview session
is conducted with a worthy developer & CEO of Akupara Games, David Logan.
Hi David and a warm welcome to
Games Cover!
Q1. Thanks for taking time with us, could you kick things off by
telling about Akupara Games, yourself, & who has inspired you in your life?
A. Hi, thanks for having me and
it’s great to be talking with all of you. I’m David Logan, CEO of Akupara
Games. We’re a developer and publisher based in Los Angeles, and we’ve been
working on and releasing titles since 2016. We see ourselves as an “indie for
indies” support studio, supporting other indie studios through offering
development services/porting/publishing/consultation in order to better their
projects within the indie landscape. I myself have been around the indie games
space for awhile now, with my first commercial release being Whispering Willows
in 2014. That game has since been one of Akupara Games’ flagship publishing
titles, with its aesthetic and targeted demographic driving our project signing
for the upcoming years. Given the direction we’re moving, it shouldn’t be too
surprising that I’m inspired by David Firth - the creator of Salad Fingers -
for the way he tells weird and creepy stories, while bringing in distinct humor
and writing.
Q2. Could you share some of the early stages of your life that led you
to becoming a video game developer / publisher?
A. Back in undergrad, I majored
in Applied Computer Graphics - computer art and animation for Film/TV/Games)
with a minor in Video Game Design. Soon after, I worked at a company called
Animax where one day I told my boss that I wanted to create a video game.
Together, we started a studio called Night Light Interactive where we developed
a demo of Whispering Willows. We entered it into the OUYA Create Game Jam,
where it was well received. One successful Kickstarter later, and we had our
first commercial title! In addition to Whispering Willows, I worked on a few
other development titles which we were able to partner up with a publisher. It
was actually through these experiences where we were able to learn about the
role of a publisher and the impact they have on a game’s launch and overall
lifespan. At times, we felt like our project wasn’t being taken care of in the
way it needed, so we ended up taking on a more proactive role and filling in
the holes left behind by our publishers. Once we felt that we had a firmer
understanding, that was when we took it upon ourselves to become the type of
publisher we wished we had - one who is as invested and passionate towards
their signed titles and creating unique campaigns that gets people talking and
ultimately excites the developer.
Q3. How was the process & experience of developing / publishing
your first game?
A. Being my first time arranging
and leading a full team on Whispering Willows as both Creative Director and
Producer, I learned a lot from that experience - much of which I’m still doing
today. It was a very eye-opening experience to be on the other side of a game
and be thinking about the user experience. Since I’m not hugely part of the
narrative adventure playerbase, I was able to add an insight and offer
something that was a bit different from those who were largely integrated in
that space. Taking a step back and knowing what I know now, it’s clear to see
what things we were doing well and where we could have vastly improved, not
only in the development pipeline, but also the overall type of experience we
could have offered. It has definitely allowed me and my team to account for features
and accessibility options during pre-production. Ultimately creating Whispering
Willows allowed me to form lifelong friendships and I’m still working with key
members from that team to this day.
As for publishing, this was where
we were able to be a little bit crazier and stretch our creativity. In addition
to employing tried-and-true strategies that work, we love exploring
out-of-the-box ideas to generate buzz around titles. For our first publishing
title, we definitely experimented a lot which included a lot of fun ideas that
both worked well and definitely could be improved on in future attempts. At the
time, our marketing team was pretty small, so we didn’t have a rounded out
perspective to catch some of the logistics or provide insight to maximize the
potential. Despite all that, we’ll always fondly remember our tall Scandinavian
friends who we got dressed up as vikings to carry huge signs promoting our game
at E3!
Q4. What game are you working on?
A. We recently launched our
psychedelic platformer Spinch on PC and the Nintendo Switch. Soon after that
came the Early Access launch of our roguelite brawler Gone Viral, which we will
be actively continuing marketing and promotional efforts over the next year.
As for our development teams,
we’re always working on something. We can’t say much right now, but we’ve got
something really exciting coming out in collaboration with a pretty big
celebrity.
Q5. What makes your games unique?
A. The one standout aspect you’ll
see when looking through our library of titles is that each one has a very high
standard of visual appeal. The aesthetics and artistic choices being made are
incredibly distinct. You’ll notice a lot of different styles ranging from pixel
art, to various hand-drawn styles, to 3D models - these are all testament to
the different developers we’ve partnered with and their own respective talents.
Aside from that, you’ll notice
our games each have very distinct voices that come out in the themes of the
game and its gameplay. Like mentioned above, we’re currently in the process of
narrowing the focus of our library for future titles. If you’re looking for
chills and thrills, you’ll love what’s to come next.
Q6. How do you handle bugs in your games?
A. Handling bugs is a
collaborative process between our QA, programmers, and producers through a
pipeline we’ve established and fine-tuned. Once we’ve determined a list of bugs
that came up during development/porting or QA, the team works together to determine
the priority at which the bugs are addressed - game breaking, performance,
visual, audio, etc. Once the game has launched, there may be situations where
we start getting community reports. This is when our Community Managers join
this process, as they are directly communicating with users to get as much
information as possible. It then comes back to our producers and programmers
determining priority for patch updates - what gets fixed and when.
Q7. What are your upcoming projects?
A. If you haven’t already checked it out, we recently announced a Soulslike Metroidvania title, GRIME, through IGN. It’s one of our biggest titles to date, jam packed with tight action combat with a difficulty that will challenge the skill of any player. This is the developer’s first commercial release and based on the reception it has been receiving with their announcement and social media presence, we foresee this to be a big splash for them.
For those looking for a game that
is a bit more relaxed on the gameplay and want a good laugh through a
supernatural romp, you’ll definitely want to look into The Darkside Detective
as we prepare for the launch of its second season!
Q8. Any advice would you like to give young aspirants in your field who
want to be successful like you?
A. Always be learning and do your
research. It can be easy to lean into your instinct and gut, but being able to
make informed decisions is helpful too! It’s great to look into successful
titles that are similar to your title, but you should also look into similar
titles that didn’t do well. See what people are saying and not saying.
Something you might often see an indie developer is, “We make games we want to
play”, which is great. But if you’re looking to sell that game and be a
financial success, is that game what the market wants to play?
Making a good game is of course a
big part of the picture, but the art of marketing/publishing is another big
part. It’s not just strategy and that “cold” side, but there is a “warm” side
of marketing that is based on psychology. Knowing how to reach your audience
and connect them to you and your game is vital. Just remember this about your
consumer: the best predictor of future behavior is their past behavior. The
thing you have to know about this is that it’s really not concrete in the
slightest way, but it really is the best assumption you can make.
Akupara Games has been known for
its high standard of visual appeal artwork, unique sounds, aesthetic appeals,
& artistic choices. Akupara Games has been in close collaboration with
various talented and versatile developers having specialties in their own
fields. The company is looking forward
to narrowing its library.
Akupara Games has recently
revealed a Soulslike Metroidvania title, GRIME, which is one of the company’s
biggest games to date. GRIME is receiving big reception from fans after its
announcement, & the studio predict that it could be their next major
success.
Thank you David for taking time
& sharing your story. I am thrilled at the marvelous library of your games
& your climb rate in the indie market. I wish you greater achievements in
future too.
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