Ahead of PC Connects London 2019 on January 21st and 22nd we are catching up with some of the big names that we have on-stage at the show.
The CEO of indie developer Bulkhead Interactive Joe Brammer shares what has changed in the games industry in the five years he has worked in it
Tell us a bit about the company.
The studio behind first-person puzzler The Turing Test and throwback classic first-person-shooter Battalion 1944, Bulkhead Interactive is a fresh-faced developer with bases in both the United Kingdom and Germany. With an average studio age of 25, Bulkhead approach games development with new ideas and innovative thinking.
What does your role entail?
CEO and designer on various Bulkhead projects
Why did you want to work in the games industry?
I started making mods for the original Battlefield games and Half Life 2 when I was 11. I never really had another career path - before that it was professional football player. By 11 I had decided I wanted to be a game dev.
What advice would you give to anyone looking to get into it?
Do work outside of your university or college courses. I don't know of anybody actually worth their salt in the industry who didn't go home and work on their own projects.
What are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?
I think it's changing faster than ever before. On the one hand, it's great we're starting to see the industry respect the workers/developers a lot more, but on the other hand, nothing is being done to curb or control player expectations. This is totally unsustainable - the demand for new games and content is so high but the amount people are willing to pay for things is so low. I'm yet to see how we're going to deal with this as a collective group.
What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?
I think we'll start to see more free to play games making headway in the West. Traditionally, I feel like free to plays have generally been seen by Westerners as cheap in quality and ironically "money grabby". The standard model of release a game and charge $XX for it simply isn't working as well as it once did and players want a more personal connection their time 'investments' now.
How has the games industry changed since you first started?
I only started 5 years ago and its changed massively. I joined in the middle of the indie gold-rush right at the start of programs like ID@Xbox. Since then, the indie market has all but disappeared and IP has become king. Owning the rights to games seems to be the most important bit of currency as the industry careers towards subscription models.
Which part of the Connects event are you most looking forward to and why?
I'm looking forward to hearing how people think Brexit will effect our industry in the short term and how we can prepare for it.
Tickets for just PC Connects London 2019 are available right here, with tickets for the entire show on sale here - buy now to save big.
More info about the event can be found right here.
