25 Years with Charles Cecil – Part 2 (1997-2015)

[b]Ingmar[/b]: Yeah, and The Serpent’s Curse was obviously the first game you did that was funded in a totally different way.

[b]Charles[/b]: It had to be. It had to be. Broken Sword 5 had to be funded in a different way, because we’d lost so much money on both Broken Sword 3 and Broken Sword 4 that it was just impossible to continue in the same way. THQ had gone bankrupt because, clearly, the model that they’d previously been very successful at exploiting collapsed overnight. And Double Fine had been very successful [with Kickstarter]; they’d raised more than $3 million for their adventure game. So we decided in early 2012 that we would aim to do the same thing.

[b]Ingmar[/b]: So now that some time has passed, how do you look back at the whole experience?

[b]Charles[/b]: It felt totally different and new – but incredibly exciting. We had very few staff. We had Tony Warriner and Joost Peters (Joost had come to Revolution, as an intern, to work on Broken Sword 1 for the Pocket PC just as everybody was laid off). And there was me and Noirin, and that was it. But what we had was access to a bunch of people who had worked for Revolution previously, with whom we maintained a very good relationship. So very quickly we were able to pull a really great team together, of which was about 50% people who had worked previously for Revolution and others who came in and brought new ideas. The producer, Kelly Willoughby, was a great Broken Sword fan, and she’d actually written to me a number of years earlier, saying how she’d love to work on a Broken Sword game. So she was the ideal person to work as a producer. So we opened up an office in the centre of York, and we pulled together a team, some of whom were locals, some of whom worked remotely.

[b]Ingmar[/b]: The Kickstarter experience was also something really different in terms of interaction with fans. It brought you very close to the community, and people were able to interact with you probably more than they ever did before, throughout this whole Kickstarter process. Do you think this is a possible approach for the next project perhaps?

[b]Charles[/b]: Well, there are two benefits to crowd funding. The first one is the money, which was vital. But actually every bit as valuable is the wonderful opportunity to deal directly with 15,000 of the game’s fans. Our community was wonderful. It is diverse. People get on with each other, and they become friends with each other. Like us they were excited by the journey, and they wanted to be part of that journey. We made a few mistakes, but broadly I’m fairly proud of the way that the whole Kickstarter project developed. And we’ve had an awful lot of people come back and say how much they enjoyed it, and how much they’d love to do it again. The ability to communicate with a community is incredibly valuable, and I would really want to do the same again.

[b]Ingmar[/b]: OK, so that might be an opportunity for the future indeed. That’s interesting.

[b]Charles[/b]: Absolutely, yes.

[b]Ingmar[/b]: We’ve been talking for so long now, so just one final question. Now that we’ve talked about each game in Revolution’s 25th Anniversary set – and I know this is probably not that easy to answer – if you had to pick just one single game, which one is your personal all-time favorite, and for what reason?

[b]Charles[/b]: Um… [long pause] Do I really have to just do one?

[b]Ingmar[/b]: [laughs] I know it’s incredibly difficult.

[b]Charles[/b]: I’m actually going to refuse to; I’m going to answer this like a politician.

[b]Ingmar[/b]: Yes, okay.

[b]Charles[/b]: I’m going to say I’m so very pleased with the engagement that we had with the community during the development of Broken Sword 5. I would also say Broken Sword 1, because it was the one that really propelled us into the big league. But then I’d also say Beneath a Steel Sky, because it was a real pleasure working with Dave Gibbons. And I’ve got to say Lure of the Temptress as well, ‘cause it was our first game and it was so well received, and it was just such a thrill to get back into development and get the reception that we did. Sorry, I’ve totally failed to answer your question.

[b]Ingmar[/b]: No no no, that’s totally okay. I mean, after such a long career, perhaps it would be kind of sad if you were to say, “There’s only this one game that comes to my mind.” So actually it was a pretty good answer.

[b]Charles[/b]: [laughs] Great, great, great.

[b]Ingmar[/b]: So now all that’s left for me to do is to say thank you so much, Charles. Last night you flew back from San Francisco, but you still gave us so much of your time when you must be busy and feeling exhausted.

[b]Charles[/b]: It has been a pleasure.

[b]Ingmar[/b]: We also wish you all the best of luck with the Revolution 25th Anniversary Collection, and hopefully people will be inspired by this interview to buy the box.

[b]Charles[/b]: Perfect. Thanks so much Ingmar. Lovely to speak to you.
 

Interview transcription by Pascal Tekaia.