Auto Assault - Rallying The Global Market

Wednesday 7 September 2005/... NCsoft Europe has made available an interview with Scott Brown, President of NetDevil, the developers behind Auto Assault - the fastest, most destructive MMO ever. In this, the fourth part of the interview, Scott talks about making a game for audiences around the world.

Q: How do conditions vary when it comes to addressing different markets? What are the key differences between, for example, the massively-multiplayer markets in the US and Europe?

A: In terms of game development we are simply trying to make the best game we can make, all of our design decisions are based on does this make the game more fun or not. I think great games sell in any territory so that is our focus. We obviously take localization very seriously and want to make sure that everything is localized correctly for the particular territory. Certainly marketing is different but that is beyond the scope of what NetDevil does as a developer.

Q: The Far East - Korea in particular and to some extent China - is also a huge area for massively-multiplayer games. Are you planning to target these?

A: Absolutely, part of the appeal for NetDevil in working with NCsoft as our publisher is their world wide presence. We hope to eventually ship in all of the territories NCsoft currently supports, including throughout Asia.

Q: Have you had to make any particular sacrifices in order to position the game in more than one territory?

A: Not so far. J We have had discussions about certain taboo elements in different territories but thankfully nothing in Auto Assault has raised any red flags with the different territories that we are looking to release in. NCsoft has true experts working with us on localization and they are the ones who will let us know what changes, if any, need to be made to make the game great for their part of the world. But to be perfectly honest, I don't think this is an issue for Auto Assault.

Q: Conversely, has there been anything you've felt the need to add - translations aside! - in order to cater to more than one?

A: Again, nothing comes to mind. We have simply focused on adding content we thought would be fun, nothing more.

Q: How important is it to launch a massively-multiplayer game in the key English-speaking markets simultaneously?

A: I think launching simultaneously in all markets that you can is really important, especially when you are working to create a new brand like Auto Assault. I know how much I look forward to new games, and how angry I would be if it released somewhere else first and that's enough motivation to me to help make sure we release simultaneously everywhere possible.

Q: Do you think there's a case to be made for dividing players by skill levels and making other distinctions, for example having servers dedicated to PvP, PvE or Role Play. Perhaps you could go further, with casual and hardcore, talkative and silent, that kind of thing? Is that something that makes sense to you as the designers of a massively-multiplayer game?

A: I think that it varies by game. For Auto Assault we are evaluating this now to see what makes sense. Right now, for example, we are thinking about at least one RP server per territory. I know I will be playing on that one, but we don't know how important it is to our player base. This is something we will work to find out with our beta community before the game ships.

Interview originally appeared on https://www.eurogamer.net on 6th September.

For more information, please visit the official European website at: http://eu.autoassault.com

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NCsoft Europe (NC-E) is headquartered in Brighton, England and is part of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation, the world's leading developer and publisher of online games. NCsoft has already successfully established itself in North America, Japan, Taiwan, China and Thailand. NC-E began operations on 1st September 2004 and serves as a central hub for all NCsoft sales, marketing and distribution operations in Europe, via its European distribution network. NC-E launched Lineage^® II in November 2004, City of HeroesTM on 4th February 2005 and Guild Wars^® on 28th April 2005. More information about NCsoft Europe can be found at http://www.plaync.com.

NetDevil was founded in 1997 under the inspiration of JumpgateTM, the world's first massively multiplayer space simulator universe. NetDevil is an independent game development company dedicated to the construction of massively multiplayer universes. NetDevil is committed to creating immersive, interactive virtual worlds in unique settings outside the typical fantasy genre. For more information, please visit http://www.netdevil.com.

NCsoft, the interlocking NC logo, Auto Assault, NetDevil, and all associated NCsoft logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.