Publishing lessons

Do you ever find yourself daydreaming about IPs that have filled your life with joy, thinking about what you would do with them if you had the opportunity? While it is unlikely that I’ll ever work with an IP, I often consider the possibilities, and five names sit on top of my list.

Red Dwarf

Red Dwarf is a classic UK sci-fi show that first released in 1988 but is still active, with the Promised Land special releasing in 2020 and new seasons in the works. I’ve watched this show my entire life and in the pre-internet days, I would have it on loop in my VHS player. I’ve watched some episodes over 100 times, and there was one point in my life where I had memorized most of the script for season 1. Luckily, other things fill my head now, but my love for the show has never gone away. Bringing UK comedy to a sci-fi setting ticks two of my big boxes, and I can only imagine the possibilities this IP would bring.

Path of Exile

I’ve mentioned Path of Exile a few times in previous articles. It is an ARPG video game, which is currently my favorite genre. I first played Diablo 1 back in the ’90s, followed by Diablo 2, Diablo 3, Path of Exile, Diablo Immortal, Torchlight, Torchlight 2, Torchlight 3, Grim Dawn, and Last Epoch. I’m sure there are others as well, but with this genre being one I have spent thousands of hours in, it brings a lot of inspiration to my game design. Path of Exile adds to that as the company behind it shares many of my own design goals and after all these years I still find myself wanting to dig further into the game. There are countless systems to explore in physical form, and the setting would be fascinating to explore further.

Taskmaster

Jumping back to UK comedies, despite having 15 seasons already, Taskmaster only released in 2015, but I’ve found its short-form challenge-style comedy to be thoroughly enjoyable. To date, all of my games have been traditional sit-at-the-table designs with a thinking puzzly feel, but I’d love to explore a more party game-style experience with this IP while finding a way to keep my puzzly design at its heart.

World of Warcraft

There have been a lot of games in my life that I spent a considerable amount of time playing, but I think if you added all those hours together, you would not reach the hours I spent in World of Warcraft. A game that I’ve spent between 350 and 400 days playing, or put in another context, at one point in time, it accounted for 4% of my life. I spent many years dreaming of game systems while playing World of Warcraft and give a lot to the game when it comes to my game design career. It was the key influence for The City of Kings, my first published game, which focused on open-world exploration, resource gathering, raid-like combat, and the holy trinity. Having the opportunity to take the entirety of the World of Warcraft universe and all it had to offer would likely absorb another 4% of my life!

Star Trek

I have always enjoyed the sci-fi genre, and a big part of that is due to Star Trek. I’ve spent countless hours watching the various shows and films over the years, and it makes me very happy to see so many new Star Trek shows being worked on. We had a worrying silence for a few years! When it comes to IPs, this is one that has endless possibilities, and I could easily imagine designing a series of games featuring my favorite stories, races, and characters.

…Or perhaps we just need to find a planet filled with cats and rescue them all before the Borg turn up?

Wrapping It Up

As I often get asked about what IPs I’d like to work with, I thought I would write up this list, and perhaps one day an opportunity will arise.

If you happen to work at Blizzard or Grinding Gear Games feel free to get in touch!

Are there any IPs you would like to work with or would like to see developed into a game?