MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Indie service provider Square Enix Collective has said it’s "very honoured" to be working with Bulkhead Studios again on its upcoming WWII shooter Battalion 1944, which is on show this week at gamescom in Hall 9.
Square Enix’s indie publishing unit previously worked with the team on the first-person puzzle game The Turing Test, which launched in August 2016 to great critical acclaim.
"We’re very honoured, firstly because we know the studio had a lot of possible partners to choose from this time around, and secondly because it tells us that they had a good experience with The Turing Test and are happy to trust us with their next, bigger game," Square Enix London’s director of community and indie development Phil Elliott (pictured above) told MCV.
"One of the key aims for Collective is building relationships. Certainly we don’t expect to work with every team on multiple occasions, but any time a team wants to discuss future projects with us, we’re very happy to do so. Another side-effect is the number of developers that are being recommended to us by those teams we’ve already worked with. Again, a good sign – but none of that means we’re happy to sit back and think that the job is done. We’re constantly learning, and trying to focus that into improving all the time."
Battalion 1944 will soon be going into Early Access while Bulkhead continues to work on the game, but Elliott doesn’t see this conflicting with the Collective’s role as publisher.
"If approached in the right way, Early Access can really be a win for all concerned. From our side, of course it won’t stop us from offering our feedback and thoughts on the game and all that surrounds it – systems, pricing, design, and any place we feel we have something useful to offer.
"But as with all the games we work on, the developer always retains 100 per cent IP ownership and 100 per cent creative control. So if they see great feedback from the community, and recognise that it can prove beneficial to their creative direction, that’s just fine with us."
