By the time I was tipped off, it had ended.
Nichols: I missed the boat on the Kickstarter. It was incredible working hard on something that you knew people really wanted, but the sense of responsibility to live up to their expectations and not disappoint them was very, very stressful. And we had only about $1.1 million in operating funds to deliver with. When we met them at conventions, they were warm and supportive.Īnd their expectations were high.
They sent us bagels and pizzas during crunch. The outpouring of positive emotion for Shadowrun was incredible.
And by that, I mean the Mickey Mouse version, not the Bruckheimer version. Gitelman: It was kind of magical – the scary, Sorcerer’s Apprentice kind of magical. What was that like for the team, seeing just how much support you had from the public? Nichols: So obviously, you guys went the crowdfunding route with Kickstarter, which ultimately proved to be extremely successful for the studio. Then, the next day, Kotaku ran an article about the games they’d like to see come back, and Shadowrun was near the top of the list. Right around the same time that Tim hit $3 million – around March 2012 - the publisher we were working with asked when we were going to make Shadowrun. I pitched the idea of doing a Kickstarter in late 2011, but Tim Schafer hadn’t had his enormous success yet, and we felt like the platform was still unproven. Gitelman: That started in one of our 3 a.m. Was it something that has always been in the works from the beginning, or was it one of those crazy ideas that someone comes up with as you’re all sitting around a table one night? Nichols: The thing that I’m really curious about is just how you guys thought to return to the world of Shadowrun. Later this year, we’ll ship our other Kickstarter project, a digitally enhanced miniatures board game called Golem Arcana. Then in 2012, we launched the Kickstarter campaign for Shadowrun Returns and found out what real work looked like. The team worked their asses off on both of those games. Our next title was called Strikefleet Omega, and we were lucky enough have it named one of Google Play’s “Best Games of 2012.” We had a ton of fun making Crimson: Steam Pirates with the team, so we solidified our partnership, and Harebrained Schemes was born. It ended up being one of Apple’s Benchmark Games of 2011 and one of Metacritic’s “Best iPhone Games of 2011.” Twelve weeks later, we shipped our first title, Crimson: Steam Pirates. We got together on a Friday, and Jordan showed me his three-slide PowerPoint concept deck for the game. Jordan and I had been talking about working together again for years - we collaborated on MechCommander and Crimson Skies at FASA - so it was really a no-brainer. He already had a good core team of about five artists and engineers, but he needed a producer.īungie wanted to publish it, so they suggested that the two of us chat to see if there was a match.
They were interested in mobile gaming and were talking to my old friend Jordan about a game concept he had for a steampunk pirate game. I had just left Microsoft Games and was consulting for Bungie. Harebrained Schemes is all about passionate people working closely together to create games that our audience can be passionate about, too.Īs for the studio’s origins – there’s sort of a matchmaker element to it. Founded in 2011, the Seattle-based studio is centered around collaboration between seasoned veterans and fresh talent.” It’s funny – I just went to our website to see how we describe ourselves, and I found this little gem: “Harebrained Schemes is a small team of passionate game developers led by Jordan Weisman, the creator of Shadowrun, Crimson Skies, BattleTech, MechWarrior, and many other acclaimed properties. So make sure to run, not walk, to the nearest computer and grab it.ĭerek Nichols: Mitch, if you wouldn’t mind for the people out there that may not be familiar with you guys, could you give a rundown on what Harebrained Schemes is and also some of the studio’s origins? I’d also like to take this opportunity to tell each and every one of you to go grab a copy of the Shadowrun: Dragonfall expansion when it releases on Windows, Mac, and Linux today (Feb. Big thanks to Mitch for taking the time to speak with me and to Robin for setting this all up.
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