zombie-army-trilogy Archives | Page 2 of 2

Posted on 20th May 201513th February 2020 by Web Dev

Jason Kingsley on Self-Publishing (Part 2)

In the second part of his series (originally published for MCV), Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley says that when it comes to self-publishing, when you launch is key. Also, Jason says, the best way to minimise surprises is to be ready for them.

Adapting your business to the self-publishing model requires a number of practical changes.

You need someone who can handle PR, manage an internal marketing team or someone that can hire in and manage freelancers.

Finding someone externally to make assets like trailers can be costly so, if you can’t afford dedicated teams, think about hiring individual artists and video editors who can help with communications.

This all needs to be done a long way in advance, as planning and creating the content needed for sales, marketing and media channels takes a great deal of time.

Timing is Everything

As a developer-publisher you have to make the call on when to launch.

This means considering when you realistically expect to complete project milestones, checking resources like MCV’s release schedule and making sure you’re not going to market jammed in between two franchise behemoths. As an indie publisher, you’ll want as much clear space around your release as possible.

With massive games these days initial release dates can slip, and feature sets can often change or be dropped. It’s therefore best to keep your ear to the ground for insider news. It’s also worth looking at the track record of those making a potential competitor. Some dev teams hit dates, others don’t. With Zombie Army Trilogy, we had one eye on The Order: 1886 and Batman Arkham Knight. The Order turned out to not have multiplayer and Arkham Knight got pushed back to June, which worked out well for us.

Knowing the genres of games you will be competing against is important; with Zombie Army Trilogy we wanted to avoid other major shooters, but Forza Horizon and Just Dance were less of a concern.

Being an indie publisher you have to accept that there will be, in many cases, an enormous disparity in the scale of resources at your disposal.

Rebellion is now relatively large, yet we are aware we’re still competing with titles that cost at least ten times as much to make and have more than 20 times our marketing budget. So you need to have talented people who can spot an opportunity and make it count.

We have to be very targeted in our more traditional marketing activity, using social media intelligently and choosing only a handful of important voices and trusted media partners with whom we have a longstanding professional relationship. For us, TV spots are out of the question, but short, effective bursts of video pre-roll ads on Twitch and YouTube aren’t. Focus your resources where you can, and where you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck. Be sure to review the data afterwards to find out what worked.

Minimise the Surprises

If you are making your first foray into publishing then my top piece of advice would be to communicate honestly and as far in advance as possible with your partners. Problems can and will emerge, and you will need other people’s help to address them.

As a publisher you are more dependent, compared to a developer, on a wider array of other businesses to do your job – whether they are retailers, manufacturers, design agencies, merchandising support, legal counsels, journalists, or banks.

Companies like Sony and Microsoft are huge, with complex structures and in spite of large budgets in places, a lot of restrictions. It is vital to cultivate relationships here – you will need friends in high places, and the best way to win new friends is to be honest and ask for help when you need it. The biggest corporations are run by busy people and behaving like an aggressive so-and-so won’t win you any favours.

When plotting your project timelines, be sure to overestimate how long everything will take and give yourself an extra week here and there – the extra time will be used up in ways you didn’t expect.

Ultimately, things will happen, but by minimising the surprise as much as possible, you give your partners the time they need to help you address the challenges.

Look out for more from Jason’s series on self-publishing on MCV and here on the Rebellion blog. And be sure to follow Jason on Twitter: @RebellionJason

Go to part 3…

Posted on 13th May 201513th February 2020 by Web Dev

Jason Kingsley on Self-Publishing (Part 1)

When it hit stores in March, Zombie Army Trilogy became the first console game Rebellion had ever self-published in its long history. This was a huge and exciting decision for us, but as our CEO Jason Kingsley explains in this piece (originally published on MCV), it was one we came to after a whole lot of thought.

There are advantages and disadvantages to developers self-publishing.

The complex decision as to whether we should self-publish happened over an extended period of time and a series of long conversations. Ultimately, the decision will depend on the weight each different studio gives the risks and rewards.

Basically, it will depend on how deep your pockets are, how confident you are in your game-making and scheduling skills, and where your company is in its employee structure. Publishing is not easy, nor is development, and each discipline has its own set of skills. I’d encourage any budding developer-publisher to think over their own situation carefully.

Here are the key questions I would recommend addressing:

How strong is your cash flow and project pipeline?

Working with a publisher can provide a solid underpinning for a game development business, as long as you have steady flow of projects with minimal downtime in-between and a publisher that is financially stable.

Gaps in the production pipeline mean an interruption of cash flow, which needs to be planned for and, if unexpected, can be deadly for any business. Hitting development milestones on time, as agreed with your publisher, is also essential; if you miss them repeatedly, it’s likely you won’t get paid.

We were in a fortunate position; we own our own IP and have multiple sources of revenue, plus expert teams who make great games again and again to deadlines. As such, we’re well positioned to take advantage of the increasing options available to those looking to self-publish.

Do you have the capacity and capability to pick up the publishing workload?

When you self-publish there are a lot more tasks you have to take on, such as approvals, retail and platform-owner negotiations and packaging design. In addition, there’s marketing, PR and community management.

This is easier for purely digital PC releases. Digital-only removes the complexity and scheduling hassles of the physical manufacture of discs and boxes, and also means you don’t have to manage approvals, age ratings, distribution schedules and inventory – it’s just a case of getting the message out there and hoping people download your game.

After analysing how the workload is or has been historically split between you and your publisher, if you find you have been doing much of the publisher-side tasks yourself already, and already have the staff and knowledge – or can cost-effectively hire them – then it may make sense to consider self-publishing.

How strong is your business track record and experience?

Publishers always take a risk when they back a developer, just as you are taking a risk in backing yourself. Ultimately the decision whether to self-publish or not comes down to a balancing of risk versus reward.

By choosing to self-publish Zombie Army Trilogy, Rebellion added more risk to the project, as nobody else was paying us to do the work; crucially, though, we think it’s risk we can control.

It’s still just as essential to set dates and stick to them, otherwise you risk letting your ‘increased freedom’ cost you more in expensive delays.

Data is also a benefit. With work-for-hire, the feedback on how your game is performing can take many months, if not years – especially when it comes to physical retail. By self-publishing, you can see on a daily basis what revenue is coming in, and what you’ll be receiving in the future, allowing you to manage post-launch investment in terms of game updates and marketing.

Self-publishing is an exciting new direction for Rebellion. We’re keeping our fingers firmly crossed, and I look forward to sharing more of the experience as we progress towards the launch of Zombie Army Trilogy – and beyond.

Look out for more from Jason’s series on self-publishing in the coming days, right here on the Rebellion blog. And be sure to follow him on Twitter: @RebellionJason

Go to part 2…

Posted on 15th April 201513th February 2020 by Web Dev

An exclusive interview with Neil Newbon

Some of you will have already enjoyed two awesome videos showcasing an actor performing motion capture at Audiomotion studios for Zombie Army Trilogy and our April Fools’ Zombie Army “Thrillogy” trailer.

But who’s the man behind the suit and glowing ping pong balls who brought the zombies, demons and survivors of Zombie Army Trilogy to life?

We sat down with actor Neil Newbon to discuss his career, his favourite games, and doing the Hitler thriller dance in just one take …

Hi Neil, thanks for chatting with us. A few sharp-eyed UK gamers might recognise you from TV shows like Hollyoaks but what else have you worked on? Did you start out in other entertainment industries?

Pleasure thank you. I’m a professional Actor with over 14 years of experience in film, tv and theatre, predominately in lead or supporting lead roles. My more recent work includes NetFlix’s three-part series Residue, 76 Days Adrift for Discovery Channel, Hollyoaks Later, and the multi-awards winning short The Stomach – as you can imagine with over a decade’s experience my body of work has got pretty long and a more complete list can be found on spotlight.com than the one I keep in my brain!

And what about the games side of things?

Well, I’ve been a Performance Capture artist and Voice Over artist for over five years now, working on over a dozen video games for various studios, including amongst others: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 ,F1 2014, Fable Legends, Until Dawn, Ghost Recon: Future Solider, FunCom’s: The Secret World and more. Of course Rebellion and Sniper Elite fans will know me best from Sniper Elite 3 and its spin off, Zombie Army Trilogy.

Where did you train and what are your specialities?

I trained at the National Youth Theatre and later with the internationally acclaimed Giles Foreman at his Centre for Acting. I’d say I have a background in method acting and movement but I’m also a highly experienced martial arts expert, incorporating motion capture dramatic performance with stunts, combat and weapon work into his roles.

You’re clearly a versatile actor with a wealth of experience in four different industries. Do you ever encourage other actors to think about working in video games?

I definitely take any opportunities I find to encourage other actors to enter Motion Capture as another part of their work.

Having comprehensive knowledge and considerable experience in many varied types of production across different media, allows me to be a better teacher as well as an actor- I am due to teach an ‘Understanding Actors’ course at NFTS this year and I also apply that as a Tutor with the Mocap Academy, teaching and enabling future games developers/ directors, as well as aspiring performance capture artists to better understand their craft and how to get the best out of their mocap shoots and the projects as a whole.

I’m also honoured to be a member of this year’s BAFTA Games Crew! I was helped early on through all the fields in my career I have worked in and I feel it is only karma to help and support those who show an interest too. This is my way of giving that back into the Industry and brings me immense satisfaction.

So let’s chat Zombie Army Trilogy! What was your role exactly?

I was very fortunate that not only did I get to play Hitler, zombies, skeletons, Elites (and all the other boss characters), but I also did the stunts, combat and in-game movements. I also captured all the main survivors for their in-game movements and cut-scenes, which was a very interesting challenge when dealing with tight schedules and a fast shoot to change between different characters sometimes on a scene to scene basis.

I got a real kick out of the chainsaw wielding Elites and end game Hitler boss was just ridiculous fun to inhabit. I hope every time his fist goes through a wall the players get a sense of my trying to tear each one of them apart with great joy and love!

How did mocapping the undead for ZAT compare to your other projects?

I love what I do – it’s basically playtime – this project was no exception!

Most shoots tend to be very physically demanding and ZAT proved just that – I like the challenge of working to multiple roles, switching movements from one set of creatures to another, sometimes on the fly, and the dark action paced, dynamic scenarios that this game offers up.

As a huge zombie fan (and this being the first zombie game I have been involved with to date) this particular project has a very special place for me. It really brought out the wide-eyed, staying-up-way-past-his-bedtime–staring-at-a-black-and-white-TV-hiding-under-covers kid in me.

ZAT basically fucking rules as a performance experience as well as my boy-fantasist day dream. It’s great to see so many players feedback and they joy they get from our collective work!

What ZAT characters were the most fun / hardest / to capture?

Interestingly the skeletons proved some of the hardest characters to portray – to find a movement based on ridged lines without muscle and sinew to allow complete fluidity was tough- we spent quite some time over a couple of sessions nailing it – I’m really pleased with the result but it was a bit ‘touch and go’ for a while to get the movements just right, with us trying multiple techniques to find the ‘feel’ for their machinations.

We got to use a lot of background material for the character of Zombie Hitler through stock footage and picture references. The team and I had a lot of fun weaving what I hope is a convincing dramatisation of the Nazi Leader.

Not only do you as an artist have to be very focused and centred about the task at hand, you need a good, trusting, working relationship with the animators and technicians as well as the specialists in the studio (the wonderful team at Audiomotion). They not only guide you through the story they want to take and help in characterisations, they also help give you the freedom for you to work in such complexity, with great ease. I am hugely grateful to work with Rebellion on Sniper Elite 3 and ZAT and it is a privilege to have so much fun throughout the hard work. Looking forward to the next one!

Tell us about the Thriller dance – how did that come about? Were you expecting the footage to ever see the light of day as an April Fools’ game announcement!?

Those loveable bastards sprung it on me at the end of the shoot after an incredibly gruelling day involving high tower falls and the like!

It was however enormous fun to do- we shot the whole thing in ONE take, no rehearsals for the routine, all of which improvised with shout outs from the team – the only initial note was of course ‘think Thriller’, I am amazed frankly it looks so great and I will happily acknowledge that is more to do with the Team’s skill than my own!

So what’s your favourite game of all time? And what about your favourite zombie or horror flick of all time?

Man – favourite game – dude seriously it’s impossible: some notables: huge fan of almost all of Bethesda’s work, I am a genuine fan of Rebellion of course and really enjoyed having my ass handed to me repeatedly in Sniper Elite 2. Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 as well as the Bioware games and Interplay and InXile reincarnations. I’m currently getting to grips with Pillars of Eternity which is a joyous modern take on the classic Infinity Engine.

Basically there are too many games and I have too much work to dedicate enough time to lose myself for too long – a good problem as a gamer to have I think!

Film wise: LOVE Dawn of the Dead – both Romero’s original and the re-make which is superb.

‘Zombieland’ is an amazing modern day classic too, shame it never became a series. Incidentally, a music video for Doves entitled ‘Kingdom of Rust’ which I was in, seems to have been homaged by the filmmakers in the long driving scene half way through the film (a testament to the wonderful vision of director China Moo-Young and to Doves’ haunting song), although this may only be coincidental!

Awesome stuff. Any last words? *loads shotgun*

Thanks to all at Rebellion, Audiomotion and especially the Players for continuing their support of the games we get to play in. I hope for every drop of sweat we broke , a player earns another ear-to-ear smile at dropping a triple zombie headshot in the game! Boom. *spits on the dust and spins the colt chamber one more time for luck*

You can find Neil on Twitter: @NeilNewbon or maybe even in a favourite game of yours …

Posted on 1st April 201513th February 2020 by Web Dev

Zombie Army THRILLOGY: April Fools!

The statement below was the official press release we sent to journos and writers on the morning of April 1st, alongside a funky new trailer.

Of course it was all in aid of April Fools, but the video got coverage all over the place including IGN, Kotaku, Digital Spy and more!

Thanks to all the community for their pun-tastic comments and don’t forget to check back soon for a blog on how the dance was motion-captured!

Finished Zombie Army Trilogy? Thrown Hitler down the Hellmouth? Well the Führer has other plans!

The dead have been resurrected once again, again, to fulfil Hitler’s darkest deepest darkest secret – desecrating dancefloors in the head-popping, grave-robbing, Zombie Army THRILLogy!

Watch the freaky launch trailer now! >>

Launching April 1st on all the platforms*, Zombie Army THRILLogy is dance game spin-off, of the zombie slaying spin-off, of the sequel, to Sniper Elite.

Strut your stuff in an epic motion-controlled flurry of funky moves, as the Freaky Followers of zombie Hitler face off against the Allied Army of Awesome.

Supporting up to 666 players in online co-op, gamers must keep fast and freaky if they’re to keep in time to the rhythm, fill their dance floor murder multiplier, and enter epic dance-offs with Karl Fairburne, Marie Chevalier, Boris Medvedev and other favourites from the Sniper Elite multi-verse.

Watch the next Evil-ution of dance games now! >>

* Requires next-generation four-player dance mat and motion-capture jumpsuits to play (currently unavailable).

Zombie Army Trilogy

ZOMBIE ARMY TRILOGY

PC • PS4 • Xbox One • Switch1-4March 6, 2015

“Co-operative multiplayer done right.” – Eurogamer
“Proven shooter mechanics and a real sense of fun.” – Wired
“A generous wodge of the most enjoyable kind of schlock horror shooting on PC.” – PCGamesN

The cult horror shooter series comes to an apocalyptic conclusion with an epic new third chapter, a heart-pumping new horde mode, and remastered editions of the best-selling Nazi Zombie Army 1 & 2.

In the dying flames of World War II, Hitler has unleashed one final, unholy gamble – a legion of undead super soldiers that threatens to overwhelm the whole of Europe. Fight alone or team up to save humanity from the zombie menace in this apocalyptic third-person shooter!

Battle through THREE epic campaigns across 15 demon-infested missions. Play solo or fight back to back in online co-op for 2-4 players. Dare you take on one of the most intense and challenging third-person shooters in gaming?

Face gruesome enemies with iconic weaponry and powerful explosives. Dismember the undead to give yourself a fighting chance, and experience every putrid lung burst, every rotten bone shatter with the infamous X-ray Kill Camera.

The ultimate horror package – alone or with teammates

Experience THREE nerve-shredding campaigns across FIFTEEN missions of intense third-person action.
Take the fight to the undead alone, or team up in 2-4 player online co-op.
Face your fears in the brutal new Horde Mode for 1-4 players, across 5 blood-curdling maps.

Gut-wrenching gunplay

Defeat harrowing legions of zombies, armoured skeletons, fire demons, chainsaw-wielding elites – and worse – before facing the demonic Führer himself!
Shred the undead with genre-best rifle ballistics, powerful firearms and deadly explosive traps.
Wince as your bullets shred the insides of the undead in gruesome detail with the return of the series’ acclaimed X-ray Kill Camera.

Customise your carnage

(PC only) Choose from 16 playable characters, including all 8 survivors from Left 4 Dead 1 & 2!
Perfect your play style with CUSTOMISABLE loadouts – pick your favourite weapons and explosives.
Customise your DIFFICULTY and add enemy multipliers. Surely you would never brave “X4” on Sniper Elite difficulty … or would you?

Recut. Remastered. Unleashed.

Includes the first two Nazi Zombie Army games like you’ve never seen them before.
Pick apart zombies with the new DISMEMBERMENT mechanic and bathe in a bloody glow of NEW graphical effects, NEW audio, NEW enemy animations … and more.
Play your favourite missions from ANY campaign in ANY order in ONE unified online community.