Ninja Theory survival was "fifty-fifty"

Ninja Theory, the company behind PlayStation 3 exclusive Heavenly Sword and now working with Namco Bandai on the multi-platform action adventure Enslaved, was only rated at "fifty-fifty" to survive the transition between working on the two games.

That's according to creative director and co-founder, Tameem Antoniades, who admitted to GamesIndustry.biz that the business only had a "very tight window" in which to secure the transition.

"It was difficult, actually, because once our exclusivity was done we had lots of staff, we didn't have an IP and we didn't have an engine," he explained during an interview at this year's Develop conference in Brighton. "As a studio we don't rely on investments or debt, so we use whatever we have in the bank to fund our next product.

"We had a very tight window in which to place a game - and it was touch-and-go, fifty-fifty whether we'd make it or not."

Antoniades went on to agree that it's tricky for independent firms in the current business climate, and that in his opinion traditional consoles are an "insane" risk to get into at the moment.

"The economics are difficult," he said. "We did sell a good number of units, considering it was out early in the PS3 life cycle, but that wasn't enough for us as a development studio to make royalties.

"So the margins are tight - you do what you can. The only thing you can do when you're making triple-A games is to make the best game you can, and support the publisher as best as possible.

"It's then purely down to luck I think, actually - the planets have to align, and it's a business that I think you'd be insane to get into to make money right now, the traditional console business. But if you do, and you make it, then you make it big."

The full interview with Tameem Antoniades, in which he talks more about the challenges of independent development and explains how publishers are changing their attitudes to games, is available now.