“Game production, more than any other artistic technique, is a product of team work,” he indicates. 3 to 12 players For Philippe Morin, the secret to Red Barrels’ success is in its team that is now comprised of 12 members. Our ambitions as developers are as important as our ambitions as owners,” explains Philippe. “It’s the beauty of being entirely independent and remaining small. And what comes next? Well, Red Barrels does not exactly function with a long-term vision: everything depends upon the projects that come forth from their fabulous imagination. After creating their own IP and consolidating their success with the release of the second version of Outlast, the visionaries behind Red Barrels are catching their breath and attempting to take a bit of a step back. “Sony and Microsoft showed an interest in offering the game with their consoles and the game was very well received, so its distribution was quite simple after that,” he recalls. “We’re proud of having delivered Outlast, which was an immediate success, without exceeding our budget and while conserving our independence,” asserts Philippe. One and a half years later, with $1M from the Canada Media Fund, $330,000 of love money and a loan guarantee for $150,000 from the SDVEM, Red Barrels took on the production of the PC version of their first game. Philippe and his friends began the funding search for Red Barrels with great enthusiasm, as well as a dose of realism acquired during the startup phase. He humbly gives the impression that creating a major company is as simple as it is exciting. The president of Red Barrels, who also taught at the INIS and Université de Montréal, is inspiring and visibly passionate about his field. Philippe Morin studied film and started working in the video game design sector somewhat by chance, when he applied for a screenwriting position. “We wanted to make games, not just talk about them.” “We wanted to go back to working with smaller teams, in order to stay more hands-on and spend less time in conference rooms,” recounts Philippe. After having realized various key projects with big players like Ubisoft and Electronic Arts, Philippe Morin, David Châteauneuf and Hugo Dallaire were looking for a change. Press Play Wanting to create high quality games that are achievable by a small team of the best developers Quebec has to offer, the cofounders of Red Barrels decided to launch their company in 2011. Red Barrels has already sold 550,000 units of Outlast 2 since its launch on April 25, 2017. The main markets for Red Barrels are the United States, Russia, China and Germany, with the Outlast game having brought terror to more than 8 million players worldwide. In 2013, it was named Best PC Game by Gaming Bolt in 2013 and Scariest Game of 2013 by PressPlay TV, in addition to receiving the Fan’s Choice award during the Canadian Video Game Awards. Outlast is a game straight out of a nightmare that places the hero in excruciatingly petrifying situations. Distributed by Valve (through the Steam platform), PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the dark worlds of Red Barrels demonstrate, with extraordinary creativity, that the most terrifying monsters are those who inhabit the human spirit. Red Barrels’ first games are based on the theme of “horror and survival,” a niche market with huge potential that had not yet been exploited in Quebec and had been ignored by the big industry players. These independent creators of single player video games play hard, as can be seen by their flagship products Outlast, the Outlast Whistleblower extension and Outlast 2. “We’re going to have fun animating rainbows and Care Bears now…” jokes Philippe Morin, President of Red Barrels. – Philippe Morin, President of Red Barrels Just over a month after the launch of their last game, these Montreal specialists in spine-chilling games are taking some time to let their next idea percolate, wanting to develop something new, with a different tone. Sony and Microsoft showed an interest in offering the game with their consoles and the game was very well received, so its distribution was quite simple after that. We’re proud of having delivered Outlast, which was an immediate success, without exceeding our budget and while conserving our independence.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |