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Today is launch day for Per Aspera and I wanted to detail the history on how @RawFury discovered this gem. It’s a fun story!
But first, a big congrats to everyone at @TlonIndustries and specifically its founders @JaviOnMars @hernaez and @roketronz who all hail from Buenos Aires.
But first, a big congrats to everyone at @TlonIndustries and specifically its founders @JaviOnMars @hernaez and @roketronz who all hail from Buenos Aires.
A long time ago* on a continent** far far away...
* the year was 2018
**Europe (which is pretty far from North and South America)
* the year was 2018
**Europe (which is pretty far from North and South America)
It's Gamescom 2018 and after a fun but long day of work (or afternoon beers?), I find myself headed to my hotel which is on the other side of the river from the Koelnmesse where Gamescom takes place.
If you've never been to Gamescom, you have a river that divides the city of Cologne. The convention takes place on one side of this river and the tourist area where a lot of people stay is on the other side of that river.
On this tourist side of the river is a famous cathedral which is commonly referred to as the Dom. This thing is massive and is probably the inspiration for half of Dark Souls.
Anyway, my hotel is close to the Dom, so I'm on my way there after the Gamescom show floor closes.
As I'm literally going around the Dom and making my way toward my hotel, I run into a friend I met recently at BIG Festival (the GDC of Brazil) a couple months prior (BIG in June, Gamescom in August).
This friend is Marin Cao (who I don't think is on Twitter), the CEO of development studio Nimble Giant (who you may have seen in the recent Embracer acquisition news--congrats!). I see him coming down the way with a friend next to him, we hug and handshake. (remember hugs?)
He introduces me to his friend, they've both just had a meal (or as I later discovered, a lot of Kölsch). This friend was @JaviOnMars, and he and his team released Per Aspera today.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Martin introduces Javier, we shake hands, and I ask him what he's working on.
On the spot, he gives me the elevator pitch for Per Aspera. Mentally, I'm salivating.
On the spot, he gives me the elevator pitch for Per Aspera. Mentally, I'm salivating.
In my good ol' Paradox days, I got to work on a number of strategy titles. It's very familiar territory for me and feels like home. Hearing Javier talk about what he envisioned for Per Aspera had my Spidey senses tingling.
I ask him, "Have you pitched this to Raw Fury before? I'd love to see it." And he replies...
"Yes, but I haven't heard back." (ouch)
"I also tried to get a meeting with you at BIG Festival but your schedule was full." (double ouch)
"Yes, but I haven't heard back." (ouch)
"I also tried to get a meeting with you at BIG Festival but your schedule was full." (double ouch)
Right there and then I'm like "please put my email in your phone and let's talk."
The rest is history.
The rest is history.
Once we got a hold of that prototype, it was over. If I recall correctly, @jantonsson lost a weekend to it. I racked up hours. The rest of our team LOVED it.
I think, though, about how we almost never saw it in the first place. A chance meeting brought it together.
Then I think about how a lot of our industry doesn't pay as much attention to the southern hemisphere.
Then I think about how a lot of our industry doesn't pay as much attention to the southern hemisphere.
That's not a dig on anyone, but it is the truth. We've been making a concerted effort to find teams in South America (Dandara, The Signifier, Per Aspera, Wolfstride), we've traveled there a handful of times. I wish we did more as an industry to uplift this talented hotbed.
I'm glad that Per Aspera is out there now and people are enjoying it. The team behind are wonderful.
I had the fortune of attending EVA (Argentina's GDC) and @hernaez invited me into his home and cooked milanesas for me, @JaviOnMars and @roketronz. And, of course, great Argentinian wine. They treated me like family.
Myself and the rest of the folks at @RawFury are very glad to call them family, too. Huge shoutout to @LiVamx @UpgradedShields @dannyspiteri and the rest of that team within our ranks for everything they did to get Per Aspera out today.
Enough mushy stuff now, time to find some Argentinian wine to celebrate today's release. Salud!
