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The 2016 edition of e3 presented quite a few impressive and interesting titles with no doubt. Even so, I did indeed find a handful of mobile and indie game gems during and after the E3 2016 event. And one of those games would be Yes Games and Gunship studio´s RTS/RPG mobile action game “Shield of God” (for iOS and soon Android as well). So I sat down with Amy Ho (spokesperson of Yes Games) and Gunship studio´s producer William Ng, and asked questions about everything from their experience with E3 2016, the mobile games market, Shield of God” to their plans for the future.

And with that said, please enjoy my interview =)

Robin TGG
What´s the history and story of Yes Games? And where are you based?

Amy
Yes Games was founded in 2011. Its mission is to create high-quality fun game to players around the world. In the same year, we obtained the IP of One Piece, Dragon Ball and etc. from Toei Animation. Based in China, Yes Games starts exploring overseas opportunity in 2016. At the moment, we have six studios that focus on different genres of games.

“Shield of god” is an RTS/RPG for iOS that is set in a mysterious environment in the far future.

Robin TGG
For those who don’t know what “Shield of God” is all about, could you give us a proper introduction of your game?

William
In short, ”Shield of God” is a console-game quality mobile game. It is a unique combination of RTS and RPG with a focus on story, game play and 3D quality graphics. This combination of dynamics are unique to mobile games, so we even named “Shield of God” as the “next-gen strategy mobile game.” Shield of God takes place in the far future with a heavily militaristic theme as it is based in a post-World War II setting with mystical elements surrounding the protagonist, Chris Owen. Owen has joined “Shield of God”, a team sent to investigate a series of terrorist activities.

Robin TGG
How did you come up with the name “Shield of God”? And did you decide at a very early stage that the game should be a mix of RTS and RPG?

William
“Shield of God” is the name of your team and literally speaking, is the best interpretation when translating from Chinese to English, as it was developed by a company based in China. Gunship studio spent quite a lot of time in figuring out what the game should be at the prototype stage. One of the special characteristics of the studio is every single one is console game lover. They struggled a bit at the very beginning, either RTS or RPG. However, none of those prototypes received very good internal feedback.

Then there is a “F- -k it! We’ll try the mix” moment. To their surprise, it finally works!

Yes Games would love to make a game based on the “Gintama” IP. So let´s pray to the Gaming gods that they will get that chance.

Robin TGG
What was it like to develop games for famous animes such as “Dragon Ball” and “One Piece”? And do you have any plans on developing games based on some other well-known anime IPs in the future? (Gintama, yes please!).

Amy
“One Piece” and “Dragon Ball” are part of our childhood or even part of our lives as we are under the huge influence of Japanese animes. Developing games for them is both challenging and rewarding. These IP has die-hard fans around the world. Although the games will be launched in China’s market only, the renown storyline and character images actually add limitation to the genre and graphic presentation to the games. Luckily, our team has been doing a pretty good job with the help offered by Toei Animation. Without their support and trust, we will not be able to create such good-quality games. And we’re also thankful to the players who consistently push us to make a better game. Every time when we thought, we had done a good job. They always showed us a way we could do better. Truly appreciate that!

Actually we’re open to IP collaborations with different company. Gintama is one of our targets. If any producers of Gintama would like to work with us and see what we can do together, CONTACT ME NOW!!

“Shield of God” has been in development for iOS units in over two years time now.

Robin TGG
How many years have you spent developing “Shield of God”? And was the game meant to be a mobile game from the very start?

William
Including the concept stage, “Shield of God” has taken two years already. It was meant to be a mobile game at the beginning.

Robin TGG
Which games, movies, books (and whatnot) have inspired Shield of God”? On a personal level, the cinematic opening video made me think about “Soldier of Fortune” and “Metal Gear Solid”.

William
Thank you! Since we have a pretty clear target market, our team has spent quite a lot of time on the Hollywood movies, console games and mobile games for research purposes. We have learnt the importance of character development, camera position and story-telling skills. We’re flattered that our players could relate us to the famous console games. If you can see our effort in putting the console game elements in a mobile game, our hard work pays off. Imagine this mobile game can satisfy the console-gamers in terms of fun, graphic quality and smoothness of gameplay. It would be one of its kind in the market.

Mobile games are just as big and popular as the Internet nowadays. So it´s a huge market with no doubt.

Robin TGG
What´s your take on the mobile games market? (cons Vs pros and your personal experience with developing and selling mobile games) And is there a big difference between the Asian and Western mobile market?

Amy and William
The market changes so fast! I’ve been working in a startup environment for over three years. What I’ve learnt are these: 1) find out what you don’t know at the early stage; 2) Fun is the crucial element for a game. If a game is fun, it will be reflected on those data (2nd-day retention, conversion rate, session time and etc.). 3) Be humble and be ready to learn from your coworkers, bloggers, YouTuber´s, players, data sites…

I do believe that the question is about the Chinese market and other markets. And to be honest, the China market is very profitable because of its huge population. However, the market is dominated by a few big companies who entered the market early. Besides that, due to the constraints of policy, it’s not a very good environment for indie developers to survive.

On the other hand, other markets are relatively open. Self-publishing is still profitable for these markets. However, the biggest challenge for the indie developers come from the players. Players’ expectation on game is getting higher and higher. If the graphic is not outstanding, they won’t download. If the game is not more fun than other big titles, they are not willing to pay.

And both markets have their unique advantages and disadvantages. It’s quite fascinating to see how mobile games evolve in terms of business model, user acquisition, platform adaptation and etc.

Say hello to the “Shield of God” crew.

Robin TGG
How many hours of gameplay do you believe that “Shield Of God” will offer on release? (roughly calculated).

William
It will be around 22-25 hours.

Robin TGG
Have you nailed down the features set list for the launch version of “Shield Of God” yet? And if that´s the case, what can the players expect from the final version of the game?

William
Yes, we have. However, I would like to keep it secret for now, so that we can surprise the players in the hard launch in Q4 2016. So, stay tuned! And follow us on Facebook and official site! Nevertheless, I can tell you that for the alpha version in July. We are going to improve the UI and team collaboration mechanics of the E3 demo.

The “Shield of God” team had a great time at E3 2016.

Robin TGG
What was the E3 experience like for you? (good, bad or mixed?) And what did E3 visitors think about the alpha version of “Shield of God”? (I guess that they have watched the Shield Of God Alpha version promotion video as well?)

Amy
E3 is awesome! We received many positive feedbacks from the media and game testers! And these comments meant a lot to the studio! They gave us a very high rating on our artwork quality and the game mechanics! And I had got a lot of feedbacks in translation, UI and features which the studio has already prioritized in their production schedule. It’s my 2nd E3 so I got better preparation for the meetings. However, I have to admit that I’d love to reserve more time to walk around the show floor to experience the new games and collect the cool swag.

Robin TGG
Is it true that “Shield of God” will be released sometime during Q4 this year? If so, which formats will the game launch to? (iOS and Android if I´m not wrong).

Amy
Yes, it’ll be launched on iOS. And we’ll roll out the Android development very soon.

Will there be a “Shield of God 2”? Only time will tell.

Robin TGG
What plans does Yes Games have for 2016? And will we perhaps see a “Shield of God 2” in the future?

Amy & William
We’ve quite a lot on our plate for 2016 🙂 Our social match-3 game, “Magic And Pawns” will be on iOS App store in early July! In the summer time, we have One Piece and Dragon Ball. In Q3 and Q4, we’ll have “Shield of God” and “Fantasia Sango” (a famous Taiwan IP). And there is a new game in concept stage, it is named “League of kitties” temporarily.  Follow us on twitter or Facebook for updates!

For “Shield of God 2” we do have something in mind but our very top priority is the current game. If you’d like to join the alpha version test in July, sign up here:
http://bit.ly/248Ll3D

Additional information:
Shield of God Official Site: https://shieldofgod.net/
Shield of God FB: https://www.facebook.com/game.shieldofgod/
Shield of God newsletter: http://bit.ly/248Ll3D

Yes Games FB: https://www.facebook.com/yesgameschina/
Yes Games Twitter: @YesGames_2016
Yes Games newsletter: http://bit.ly/293elKc