Entrepreneurship and Gaming - A Chat With Yacht Club Games

Entrepreneurship in the gaming industry is not the most common practice. Gaming is largely run by the big name publishers and developers, and the most successful startups tend to be acquired quickly while those who have difficulties tend to fall apart. Having said that, in the last 10 years there has been an independent game revolution, with young, upstart developers channeling their passion into smaller, but still extremely rewarding games. One such developer is Yacht Club Games. Formed in 2011, Yacht Club Games is best known for its 2014 smash hit Shovel Knight, which pits the titular character against 8 enemy knights and the enchantress, in a fully realized world that would fit in perfectly with NES classics. It consists of old school graphics, gameplay mechanics reminiscent of Mega Man, Ducktales, Super Mario Bros. 3, and one of the best soundtracks in the last few years. What’s so impressive is that even while it is a love letter to gaming of old, it creates its own identity, one that I look forward to see growing over time. Given this was Yacht Club’s first official release, I wanted to learn more about the process of forming a company and becoming successful. I was fortunate enough to correspond with Sean Velasco, designer and director at Yacht Club Games on the formation of the company and building a business in a sometimes unforgiving industry. A special thanks to him and his team for their willingness to speak with me and for crafting a classic in Shovel Knight.

Currently Playing - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and NieR: Automata 

I cannot remember a period of time with this much excellence at once, 2017 is already shaping up to be an amazing year for games.

                      

                                

      (Promo art of Shovel Knight and his enemies. Credit: Kickstarter.com)

1.      Where did the idea behind Yacht Club and Shovel Knight come from? How did you all start up in the industry?

SV: We all started in different ways, but our paths mostly crossed at another developer called WayForward, which is known for licensed titles and classic side scrollers. As players that loved these kinds of games, we were all drawn to WayForward, and we developed many titles. But after several years, we decided we wanted to break off and do our own thing. That’s how the idea for the Yacht Club came about. Shovel Knight was born from the idea of making a classic NES style game that was built around a single mechanic. We chose it because we thought it would be a good Kickstarter game, and something we were passionate about and also capable of doing ourselves.

2.      In the early days in 2011 how was funding acquired? I know Kickstarter played a huge role by 2013, but did Yacht Club go through a similar process to tech firms with venture capital or self-fund?

SV: We weren’t really assembled as a company until shortly before we put the Kickstarter together, around November of 2012. Until then, we were all working full-time jobs at other companies and doing YCG stuff on the side. We never tried to get capital from other places, but if the Kickstarter had failed, we might have tried.

                              (The titular blue knight himself. Credit: Wikipedia.org)

3.      How did you enjoy working with Kickstarter? Would you recommend it to future game developers? It seems like one of the most viable funding locations for games.

SV: Kickstarter is cool because the power goes into the hands of the developers! But, it’s a ton of work to launch a Kickstarter and communicate with your backers and audience. Publishers and self-funding can work really well too, but Kickstarter is certainly viable. I’m not sure if we would do it again, but it’s certainly a great funding model if used correctly. Just be aware that it’s a project in and of itself!

4.      How did you find and recruit your team? What channels do you think are the best ways to find strong developers and business minds?

SV: Our team came from WayForward, where we were already used to working together as a team on various projects. Working alongside people is the best way to find like minds, even if it’s on something smaller. For people with no team, I would try to join a game development club, meet other devs that are already working, do internships, anything to try and meet people and get familiar!

                                 

(Shovel Knight’s villains have also gotten moments in the sun. Here we see the latest downloadable content Specter of Torment. Credit: Gamespot.com)

5.      In the beginning of the company what were the hardest obstacles to overcome? How did you and your team maintain focus throughout the early process when uncertainty is high?

SV: We are a team that has historically managed to stay focused through crazy development schedules and company drama. This practiced focus discipline helped us to get Shovel Knight done. But we worked crazy hours, testing our sanity. We worked with very thin resources, testing our finances to the limit. As time went on, it felt like we were all going to go insane. And we did! Some of us are still recovering…. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

6.      This may seem a bit broad, but how did you segment your target audience? Shovel Knight clearly hit hard with a lot of passionate gamers, but how did you know that was the group you wanted to make a game for?

SV: We tried to make Shovel Knight for ages 8-80: for kids that have never played a platformer, for lapsed gamers, for nostalgic players, for everyone. That meant we had to carefully balance difficulty and try to make our game intuitive and easy to learn. We built something that we really loved, and tested it with lots of players, adjusting along the way, even if we disagreed with their feedback sometimes! In the end, Shovel Knight became appealing to players of all ages, but I think the difficulty is still a turn-off for some.

                              

 

(One of Shovel Knight’s biggest influences – Mega Man. Credit: USGamer.com)

7.      I love the early investment in the Nintendo Switch, but do you ever see yourself developing for bigger platforms such as iOS or Android?

SV: Shovel Knight is a game that demands tactile control methods, so iOS and Android are a poor fit. It just wouldn’t be playable! But we still think that touch screens and other control methods are cool. There is definitely interest in doing something someday. We’d just need the right game.

8.      What recommendations would you make for future entrepreneurs in the gaming industry?

SV: I have no idea, haha! We got really lucky, I think. I guess I would say: make sure your team is great, you all know what you want to make, your games are great (and confirm it with many, many non-biased parties), your marketing is great, and never ever give up! Success has a lot to do with persistence. Note: I started a company and failed before we ever started Yacht Club Games!

The Triforce of Greatness

(I don’t not have this as a poster…Credit: Collider)

This week, the latest iteration in The Legend of Zelda franchise will hit store shelves. The game is titled The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and has received copious amounts of praise at game shows prior to the official release. Regardless, I’ve learned very little about the game outside of the release trailers to keep some surprises for the game, as gaming journalism can reveal quite a bit of information. I have learned that the game will be enormous in size and scope, and has me extremely excited to try it out and dust off my dying Wii U[1]. Although Mega Man has been and always will be my favorite franchise, Zelda more often than not has held down the number 2 spot (occasionally Sonic makes a claim but usually lives in 3^rd place). I hold The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as the greatest game ever made, and one of my cherished gaming memories. I was 10 when the game came out, and can still remember playing it on Christmas morning. My personal favorite is The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, which came out shortly after Ocarina of Time. With overwhelming themes of loneliness and isolation, Majora’s Mask transcends traditional storytelling for an enthralling experience. While the most recent console entry, Skyward Sword, lacked the awe and wonder of previous entries, the franchise has been largely established as a gaming cornerstone, and will look to reassert its dominance shortly.

                                                 

        (So close. Credit: Zelda.com)

First and foremost though, repeat after me: Zelda is the girl, you play as Link, the hero traditionally clad in green. This is undeniably the most common misconception regarding Zelda, so much so there’s a T shirt about it[2]!

So what is Zelda, and why has it been so successful? Simply put, the Zelda series puts players on adventures that define excellence at almost every step, and it is likely that each player has an individual favorite quality about the Zelda games. It redefined targeting in action games with its “Z Targeting” in Ocarina of Time, which has made for intense boss battles and tricky enemy encounters. It gave players a large world to explore in the original The Legend of Zelda, and gave little instructions. It typically utilizes the highest graphical output a system is capable of, and always brings forth puzzles that force players to think outside the box and use their arsenal of items and weapons. What’s kept it fresh though is that with each iteration there is always a unique theme to draw the player in: in A Link to the Past has players travel back and forth between the light world and dark world to complete dungeons, Majora’s Mask gives the player masks to change them into different species encountered such as the water based Zora, and Twilight Princess allowed Link to turn into a wolf for a different take on the formula. Each game has one very unique story mechanic to make it different from the others, but at the end of the day, Zelda revolves around core elements. Zelda is typically under duress or kidnapped by the evil Ganon, and it is up to the hero Link to save her[3]. To do so he needs to traverse the world known as Hyrule, entering dungeons of different elements to gather what is required of a final duel with Ganon. Dungeons are tricky, and a good test of the capabilities of the player.

                                        

                                       (Ocarina of Time, one of gaming’s finest. Credit: Forbes)

While this may sound like common fare in the gaming world today, starting in 1986 this was a huge movement. Players now had a world to explore with endless possibilities of what they could accomplish. Furthermore, given that each installment adds something new while refining what has made it great previously only adds to the fanfare. Add in the variety of dungeons, bosses, characters, etc. and you have the makings of a great franchise. Personally, I love the music of Zelda. Koji Kondo and his team have created themes that have been with me since childhood, ones that are difficult to tire of, even after you’ve heard them hundreds of times over. Critics and fans alike have agreed about Zelda’s excellence, the games have almost always been over 1 million in sales and the Metacritic scores above 90. See below for details.

                                         

              (This is just the front page, insane. Credit: Metacritic.com)

                                  

(It isn’t until #24 do we see a title dip below 1 million sales, incredible. Credit: Vgchartz.com)

Now while the validity of VGChartz is occasionally in question, what cannot be denied is how financially successful Zelda has been. Even more impressive are the Metacritic scores. Metacritic is known for compiling all reviews across the industry in a place for 1 singular total score, making it easy to decide whether to purchase or not. Naturally most games fall closer to the middle of the 0 – 100 spectrum, and for games anything above an 80 is listed as “Generally Favorable Reviews” while anything above 90 is listed as “Universal Acclaim”. Games that hit the 90+ rating are few and far between (there were 5 console games last year in what was considered an excellent year for gaming). To see Zelda have such a handle on these extremely rare scores further emphasizes its excellence, and if early reports hold true, it is likely that trend will continue with Breath of the Wild.

So I’ve heaped a lot of praise on Zelda at this point, are there any negatives? Well yes, in fact. Since Ocarina of Time, Zelda has largely fell prey to making games somewhat similar to landmark classic, with the exception of Majora’s Mask whose time travel and intricate storytelling created a vacuum of fun side quests and superb character development. Furthermore, Wind Waker which offered a fresh take on a water filled Hyrule, along with a more cartoon like Link loaded with personality. On the more critical side though, Twilight Princess, while refined in gameplay, lacked the pizzazz of Ocarina and the wolf mechanic was more of a chore in the early game than an exciting, fresh twist. It was the sequel Ocarina deserved in terms of dungeon quality but lacked the freedom. It’s still an excellent game, but it will never be my favorite. It sold exceptionally well too, launching it at the same time as the Wii was a brilliant move by Nintendo, which appears like it will pay off again with Breath of The Wild and the Switch. The handheld titles have largely been hit or miss for me as well. While I loved the first few (Link’s Awakening, Oracle of Seasons/Ages, The Minish Cap), I was extremely disappointed with both Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. Forcing me as the player to use stylus controls was frustrating, especially with no options to use a traditional control support. Furthermore, Phantom Hourglass had my second least favorite trope when it forced the player to return to the same dungeon over and over (plus, no new music for dungeons? Just cave themes? C’mon Nintendo, you’re better than that). Spirit Tracks was better, but with these games I felt like I was being forced to finish, less like I wanted to actually finish them. Again, the linearity played a role here.

                                                

                                                            (Sigh…Credit:WhatCulture)

This brings me to my main critique: linearity became a staple of the franchise after Ocarina of Time. The two exceptions notwithstanding, the linearity became my chief issue for a while, and there was no better example of how criminal it was than in Skyward Sword. The game used the Wii’s motion controls to have the player use Link’s sword 1:1, and it worked pretty well overall. The game sold nearly 4 million copies, indicating it was a huge success. However, this is by far my least favorite Zelda game. The game is entirely too linear, forcing the player to follow a strict path to go from objective to objective with very little in between. The gameplay is nice, but the dungeons are small, and a little overwhelming (Lanayru Mines and Sandship notwithstanding). The lack of optional activities cannot be underscored though, as the game left me wanting a lot more, despite a nearly 40 hour adventure. Furthermore, two of the bosses in the game you need to fight 3 times, including one which I consider one of the worst bosses ever, Zelda or otherwise[4]. Add to this the cartoon-like graphics that were not as animated as Wind Waker and not as realistic as Twilight Princess and you’re left in a boring middle ground. Finally, the music is uninspired in comparison to all other entries, and I struggle to recall a theme off the top of my head even now, even though I could think of any of the dungeon themes from earlier games. The game ends with a new boss that supposedly inspires Ganon, but it’s nonsensical and unnecessary. It was the first Zelda game I finished and didn’t think “OK, what did I miss, let’s see what else is out there”. Instead, I finished the game and moved on, and haven’t looked back. It’s too long for me to do another play through nowadays. Perhaps my disdain comes from my aging (I was 24 back then and had grown accustomed to Zelda) or perhaps I knew way too much about it prior to playing it, which is something I’ve tried very hard to avoid this time, but this game never clicked with me, and I doubt I’ll play it again.

 

                                              

                                 (A Link Between Worlds – A new beginning. Credit: Zelda.com)

Now I’m sure if you’re reading this and loved Skyward Sword you’re probably offended, and truth be told I might be wrong given the critical and commercial success, but I think Nintendo knew they were exhausting a bad path of linearity. I say this because in 2013 Nintendo said screw it and gave us A Link Between Worlds, a game that takes players to an updated world based on A Link to The Past as the environment and then turns the Zelda formula upside down. Instead of telling player where to go and what to do, it gives the individual all of the key items and weapons up front and allows them to figure it out on their own, and I for one, loved the change. I could go to any dungeon I wanted to right away, even if I was unprepared. You get punished for dying and lose all your weapons, but opening the landscape almost entirely from the start was brilliant. There were still certain items needed for maximum story progression, but the player could go at his or her own pace, and could explore the world in full if interested. Furthermore, the gameplay mechanic of turning into a painting on a wall added new puzzle elements and exploration motives, it was absolutely brilliant. Finally, the visuals looked great and the soundtrack was quality, while not as iconic as other games it still had individual dungeon themes, which I am a bit of a stickler about[5]. The game was another huge success, both commercially and critically. In my opinion it’s what inspired the huge open world in Breath of the Wild as the simple switch totally reinvigorated the series. Now as the wait finally comes to an end, the adventure begins. I’d be remiss to say I did not follow Breath of the Wild as closely as the last Zelda releases in the past 15 years, but honestly I’m looking forward to the surprise, the experience, the music, and the world the game has to offer. So cheers to Nintendo, which has been able to once again define excellence for over 30 years, and here’s to my next steps in Hyrule.

For those interested, I’ve listed below my favorite Zelda titles followed by my least favorite.

Favorite Zelda Games:

1.      Majora’s Mask

2.      Ocarina of Time

3.      A Link to the Past

4.      The Legend of Zelda

5.      A Link Between Worlds

Least Favorite Zelda Games:

1.      Skyward Sword

2.      Phantom Hourglass

3.      The Adventure of Link

Currently playing: Bloodborne, buying a system 3 years after its launch (PS4) left me with a bunch of cheap games to try, and I have to bring this game up because it’s incredible. It’s brutally difficult, but a joy to play.

 

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[1] I purchased a PS4 Pro back in November so I’m going to wait a bit before I jump on the Nintendo Switch hype train

[2] http://www.bustedtees.com/zeldaisthegirl

[3] There are other main villains such as Vaati or Demise (ugh, the worst), but Ganon is the mainstay

[4] The Imprisoned, in case you were wondering.

[5] Also the Swamp Palace theme was awesome