Today, we were given the opportunity to interview Torsten Reil, CEO of NaturalMotion, well known for their Backbreaker football franchise for iOS. Mr. Reil talked about NaturalMotion’s latest release, Icebreaker Hockey and his thoughts about the portable gaming industry.

Company Name: NaturalMotion
Name: Torsten Reil
Title: CEO
URL: www.naturalmotion.com

Can you tell us about Icebreaker?

Icebreaker is a fun, intense hockey title that distils the sport down to its core: skating down the ice, dodging past opponents and scoring goals. We’ve put great emphasis on recreating the feeling of being on the ice: we actually had a full blown motion capture session on a real ice rink to capture professional hockey players; this is then combined with our morpheme animation engine and endorphin simulation tech to provide life-like movement and crushing wall smashes. On top of that, the game’s developer Digital Legends was able to push the limits on the graphics side, be it effects like real ice reflections, advanced cloth shaders or ice particle effects.

How did you come up with the idea for Icebreaker?

We’ve been wanting to do a hockey game for a long time, partly because we liked the idea of creating a fluid and satisfying skating experience, partly because we had a lot of people asking us ever since we launched the first Backbreaker game!

What are some other features or gameplay changes coming to Icebreaker?

Icebreaker is actually based on a different engine than Backbreaker, so much of the game is new. We have a completely new set of moves, including dekes, hardstops, goal shots, showboats, wall smashes etc. We also introduce a goal scoring mechanic (which doesn’t exist in Backbreaker), with the ability to super-charge your shots. But equally, we still wanted to make sure Icebreaker is recognizable as a Breaker game, so if you liked Backbreaker, you’ll love Icebreaker.

How do you think the iPhone has revolutionized the portable gaming industry?

It’s changed everything. It’s fair to say that NaturalMotion would not be in mobile gaming, had it not been for the iPhone. Aside from a great store experience, Apple has simply created great gaming hardware. We are able to run our next-gen console engines on an iPhone or iPad, which is pretty amazing. Apple is disrupting an entire industry, so this is very exciting.

Do you outsource any projects or development, if so, how much?

Our games are developed both internally and externally. Jenga, for example, was developed in our Oxford studio. Icebreaker, on the other hand, was developed by Digital Legends in Barcelona, an extremely talented team.

Advancements in graphics and animations in the mobile phone industry have astronomically grown within the past couple of years. How much time does your company devote to graphical, animation, and sound production for mobile applications? Are there areas that you focus on?

Animation and graphics are a big focus of ours – it’s in our DNA. Everything we’ve learnt from console, we can now apply to mobile, which is a major step change. Over the next few months, what’s console and what’s mobile will be blurring anyway, and we feel we’re at the forefront of this transition.

Marketing an application can be a very difficult task. With so many applications being developed and released on a daily basis, capturing user attention in an App Store is challenging. What have you found to be an effective way to market your products to users?

On iOS, the most effective type of marketing is to create a compelling title. We set a high bar for visuals and gameplay polish. Everything needs to ‘click’. In our experience, if you create a compelling game, there is good chance that Apple will support it and people will buy it. There’s little need for outside marketing; the iOS charts will ensure good content bubbles up.

What do you think of the store review process? Is it helping or hurting your business?

We’ve always found Apple’s review process fast and painless. It’s good to have a base level of quality control, and users clearly appreciate that they can trust iOS apps.

Many thanks to Torsten Reil and NaturalMotion for your time.

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