Busy taking on China

Yes we know, it has been too long since our last blog entry but we have been very busy counting our revenue generated from the first launch of Gladiator Bastards in December. No, just kidding, but seriously we have been busy with the localization of our fighting game to the Chinese market. Yep, that's right, Gladiator Bastards (or as they say in Chinese: Chāofán jué dòushì, Extraordinary Gladiator) is going to invade China!

It is practically impossible to sell your game without any help in China if you are a small game making company from Finland like us. Fortunately we have a partnership with a Finnish company which specializes in distributing games in China and they have seen the potential of Gladiator Bastards in the Asian market. Our distributor partner has helped us through a lot of complicated bureaucracy and red tape in order to have our game released in the land of the dragons. This alone is a tough cracker to deal with as a westerner but then you have to also deal with the complicated cultural differences between the east and the west and adjust your game accordingly.

For example there can be no blood or splatter in the Chinese version nor can there be any advertisements either. Swearing and anti-establishment behavior is also a big no-no. So the Chinese get pretty watered down version of our not so intelligent dialog boxes ;) One big task has been integrating with the Chinese operators in game app purchase systems. Fortunately for us we could outsource this task.

In addition there were some gameplay altering changes that the Chinese operator wanted. At first glance these requirements felt crushing but then we thought that the changes were really good and added to the replay value of the Gladiator Bastards. So we decided to import these gameplay changes (don't worry, the blood stays in) to western version too!

This fall there will be a relaunch of ALL NEW Gladiator Bastards and this time we will release the long awaited IOS version for you to try out too! Stay tuned for the next blog update where we describe in depth the changes made to the game. You don't have to wait it for seven months (knock wood).

This Christmas fight like a Bastard

 I find it hard to believe that I am finally writing this particular blog entry. A blog entry about the release of our first mobile game GLADIATOR BASTARDS! I am also pretty excited with the game! It has fast paced action, it is has responsible controls via virtual controls (which is quite an achivement considering that this game is played by touch screen) and a twist of crude humour. I think it is safe to say that it is at least the best finnish made tournament fighting game. To our knowledge, Elfmania was the previous one.

Oh man! It took us a little under couple of years to create this tournament fighting game from scratch. You might think that it is pretty long time to spend on one mobile game and basically it is, but keep in mind that almost everything that we did was learned during the progress. Creating assets, graphics, sound, Play- and app-store integration, Game Center integration, Everyplay integration, localization, Unity analytics, legal stuff and lots of other things that I don't even remember anymore takes a lot of time. Especially if you have not done it before.

But when the game is released it does necessarily mean it is completed. Gladiator Bastards has some new upcoming features to look for. These include:

• Character based leaderboards
• Ability to buy oneself back into lost match
• Extra characters
• Extra weaponry
• Network matches

Also we are working on iOS release which has been frozen since last summer because we wanted to focus on one ecosystem at the time.

If we had to do start all over again I think we would not probably do a fighting game but something easier and more lowkey. It is not a great idea to pick an action genre this hard and established, then squeeze it to a mobile device where people mostly play some candy and bird tapping games :) But what is done is done and I am proud for what we have achieved!

It has also been a pleasure to get to know a lot of people of industry and learn the business from scratch. It is interesting to realise how much mobile games and business has changed only within these two years. I am sure the field will look completely different after another two years!

Oh yeah and I have to mention that we had quite some problems with the censorship at Google and on Facebook. First of all our advertisement campaing included pictures and video of a warrior lady with open and rather huge cleveage. That is a no-no on Play store videos and pics and on Facebook ads. However chopping up people in pieces with gallons of blood is perfectly okay :D Also we had problem with a the name GLADIATOR BASTARDS when entering ad campaigns to Facebook. apparently on their view the word Bastard refers to a certain group of people in a negative way. Well, it kinda does but these Bastards are tough fighters! Included at the bottom is censored wignette from banned facebook campaign.

I'd like to thank everyone involved with the project: Seppo, Joni, Pauliina, Eva, Riku, Matti, Simo, Sami, Jussi, Tommi, Marko, Timo, Anu, Jenni and everyone that has supported us on this enormous endeaveour! And remember: this christmas fight like a bastard!

We heard you

The jolly guys of Frak have been laying low for the summer. We even had a chance to spend some holiday time to relax and charge those game making batteries. However, we've not been completely slacking out. The new beta release of GLADIATOR BASTARDS is coming out this September!

And yes, we've heard you! We have been reading feedback and took it seriously. The new beta release is filled with improvements and fixes, some of those came from you, the gamers. Here are few of the fixes:

• Awesome improved menus and UI!
• Cool background music in fight stages. Distinctive in each stage!
• Dash moves for each fighter!
• Improved and enhanced controls and playability!
• Completely new gameplay for improved challenge!
• Improved cut scene system for enhanced gameplay!
• Improved difficulty!

This new release is now in test phase and will be released sometime in September. We'' let you know!

By the way, Frak guys are going to Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki next week (5-6.9). You can catch us at our booth where we will gladly demonstrate our new beta and let you try it out! So if you are coming to PGC, come say hi!

Gladiator Bastards beta launch

The time has come to start the Gladiator Bastards beta! Go to this url: http://gladiatorbastards.frak.fi/beta and follow the instructions depending on your device. Beta testing is available on Android and iOS!

When you think you are ready we'd appreciate if you took time to answer this short survey.

The game has bugs and it is missing key elements such as character development, achievements and network gameplay. We need your input wipe out all bugs and we'd like to hear your opinions of the game and ideas for further development!

Game conference survival guide

If you are a game developer, graphic designer, sound designer, coder, producer, publisher etc. and you work in the gaming industry, the chances are that you will go to a gaming related conference at least once in your lifetime. I want to share with you this checklist that I made before I went to White Nights Helsinki '16 happening on February 12th. Maybe some of you find this useful!

Before you go

• Read the conference programme
  Plan ahead which seminars and panel discussions you want to see.

• What is your goal?
  Looking for distributor or people to work with? Arrange meetings with people. Most conferences have matchmaking tools to help you find right folks for you. 

• What booths are there?
  Plan ahead which booths would be useful for you to visit.

• Install conference app
  Most conferences have an app for visitors to connect and to keep up to date.

• Remember toothbrush!

On location

• Paper and pen
  This might sound old fashioned but at least for me, writing down things in a notebook is often more efficient than using electronic device to write things down. Many of the conferences provide notebook and pencils within check in bag but don't count on it. You might also want to take pictures of slides instead of writing them down.

• The Power
  Most likely you are gonna use heavily your mobile devices, tablets and laptops. So if or when you run out of juice, keep your charger with you and locate a free power outlet. I have not yet visit a conference where there are places with enough power outlets where you could load your device(s). You can also keep extra batteries with you. 

• The Party
  Most conferences have parties. These are the best places to meet new contacts and talk to different people. Just don't get too happy with the drinks or you might corrupt your precious brain data storage for the evening and ruin your performance the next day ;) 

Aftermath

When the trip is done you might want to take time to sum up your work. If you did not already connect with your new contacts in facebook, twitter and LinkedIn, do it now. Also, store received business cards with notes somewhere where you find them when you need them. It easy to forget, mix up faces and names and positions and companies and what you talked about.

PGC London 2016

The Frak guys traveled all the way from Tampere Finland to a sunny and warm (on finnish standards) London to have a good time at Pocket Gamer Connects London 18-19th of january 2016. The angle for this journey was to promote our upcoming mobile game Gladiator Bastards and network with the people in the business. Here is a very brief video shot at the conference location at The Brewery.


There was a nice variety of upcoming mobile games and game related applications. Even few VR based apps. It was great to notice that fellow Finns were probably the most presented nationality in the conference outside the British! In the basement floor the clear majority of booths were from Finnish companies.

With so much going on it was hard to find time to catch all the interesting seminars and panel discussions. East meets west was a big topic. The mobile market in Asia is very different in the east than it is in the West. The importance of localization and finding a good distributor for your game in Asia are vital tools if one wants to succeed in the large markets like China or Japan. Also what was pretty enlightening to me was to hear experiences involving the IP usage in games in the dev point of view and also from the IP owners. You don't necessarily need to be a large company to use external IP!

All in all it was a rough two days but it was worth it!

Gladiator Bastards soft launches soon

Damn! It has certainly been a while since the last blog update! The last time we blogged (almost nine months ago!!), our game was only a fraction or less of what it stands today. Even the name has been changed since. Our tournament fighting game is now called Gladiator Bastards: The Champions of Caligula!

There has been some major changes to gameplay. For instance, we no longer have a single provocateur in the game but six! We also gave up chapter based story structure and focus on character based fast paced tournaments.

There are now six selectable Gladiators at first. Four of them must be unlocked. Here are few storyline examples: Select Alia or Amira and take revenge on Caesar Caligula for killing their parents. Select Steinn to become Rome’s first gay gladiator champion! Select Sextus to play as a scientist from the future, sent to the gladiator times by the aliens! Unlike the earlier Provocator vesion, Gladiator Bastards includes animated cut scenes for every story to beef up the adventure! More characters will follow later.

When player chooses her fighter, she must beat five other competitors and finally, the villain of all time, Caesar Caligula himself. Unlike current big money mobile tournament fighters like Injustice or Mortal Kombat X on mobile, Gladiator Bastards does not utilize sweep/tap controls, but more traditional and responsive virtual controller. This will give you feeling as close as to 16-bit arcade tournament fighting gameplay as it is possible on mobile device without external peripheral.

Gladiator Bastards will be soft launched for Android in Finland and New Zealand during February 2016! Like us on Facebook and follow on Twitter to stay updated!

Btw: We are going to Pocket Gamer Connects London 2016 next monday. Meet us there!