For the next few weeks, we ll be delivering audio versions of some of the best sessions from our recent GI Live: Online event.
This week, our head of games B2B Chris Dring speaks to IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak about the rollercoaster journey the Hitman studio has been on for the past few years.
The conversation covers everything from IO s split with former publisher and parent Square Enix, through the risky period of supporting Hitman 2016 alone, charting the rise of the World of Assassination trilogy with Hitman 2, and culminating in full independence and self-publishing for this year s Hitman 3.
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Velan Studios is not a household name, but despite this, it s been able to make a bit of a splash. Its first release was the Switch exclusive Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, but it s also been building up to the launch of something very different: Knockout City. Published by EA Originals, the multiplayer dodgeball game is on the verge of release, and it s already garnered plenty of excitement from an enthusiastic community.
The idea of a competitive game about throwing, catching, and dodging is a simple one, but not something that s really been done before. As it turns out, the concept came to the studio early on, and it s been slowly building on the idea over four years. Knockout City was one of the early prototypes that we did, to be able to say, What kind of different experiences can we create for online multiplayer games? says Guha Bala, one of the founding brothers of Velan Studios. He tells us they wanted to avoid making anything too similar to the multiplayer shoot
Velan Studios co-founders Karthik and Guha Bala (brothers who also founded Vicarious Visions in 1990) discuss how they built code to seamlessly serve the all-multiplayer action of EA’s Knockout City, which supports up to eight players and launches May 21 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
For the next few weeks, we ll be delivering audio versions of some of the best sessions from our recent GI Live: Online event.
This week, our head of games B2B Chris Dring speaks to Guha Bala, co-founder of Vicarious Visions and Velan Studios, the team behind Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit and the upcoming dodgeball multiplayer outing Knockout City.
The episode explores Bala s career, starting as an indie developer before leading AAA teams at Vicarious Visions, and his eventual return to independence, as well as his advice on finding the magic in your game concept.
You can listen to our latest episode in the player above, subscribe to our directly here. It is also available via Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Overcast, Player FM, TuneIn and other widely-used podcast platforms.