GENRE

TIGA
GENRE REPORT
18
Kobojo
ROLE PLAYING GAMES
Kobojo
Chris Stamp, Studio Director
1. HOW DOES DEVELOPING A
GAME FOR THIS GENRE SUIT
YOUR STUDIO IN PARTICULAR?
“The studio was created with the genre in
mind, so recruiting and other activities were
focussed on this to the point where it suits
Kobojo’s Dundee studio very well.”
2. WHAT ARE THE GENERAL
ADVANTAGES OF DEVELOPING A
GAME IN THIS GENRE?
“It’s very creative work, appealing to game
developers and fun to work on, and has
a rich heritage of global titles and a very
committed fan base. There are also some
well-established game design standards to
build on.”
3. WHAT ARE THE GENERAL
DISADVANTAGES?
“The expectations are very high for a genre
that the players take very seriously!”
4. WHY DOES THIS GENRE OF
GAME IN PARTICULAR SUIT
YOUR TARGET PLATFORM
(I.E. PC, MOBILE/TABLET OR
CONSOLE)?
“It’s a genre that has wide appeal across
platforms, but establishing it on mobile
where the audience is still typically more
casual and play patterns are less wellsuited
to the more involved gameplay
involved in the deeper RPGs, is still a work
in progress.”
5. ARE UK DEVELOPERS
PARTICULARLY GOOD AT
DEVELOPING GAMES IN THIS
GENRE?
“I wouldn’t say so – the heritage comes
more from other countries. The US for
example, but particularly Japanese
developers.”
6. ARE THERE ANY OTHER
COUNTRIES THAT ARE
PARTICULARLY GOOD AT
DEVELOPING GAMES IN THIS
GENRE?
See previous.
7. WHAT DOES THE
FUTURE HOLD FOR GAMES
DEVELOPMENT IN THIS GENRE -
HOW WILL THEY EVOLVE?
“I think the major evolution will be around
the free-to-play business model which is yet
to sit comfortably with the more hardcore
RPG gamers. No doubt a breakthrough will
be made at some point involving a new way
of applying the free-to-play model that now
dominates mobile to this long-established
premium/retail genre, or a free-to-play
RPG compelling enough to overcome the
resistance to the F2P model will emerge.”