Tony Hawk Ride may have met with a mixed critical reception, but developer Robomodo says the game's retail success helped it grow its staff 20 percent -- with an additional 17 percent growth planned.
Tony Hawk Ride may have met with a mixed critical reception, but developer Robomodo says the game's retail success is helping it grow as a studio. Chicago-based Robomodo has grown its staff by 20 percent since it launched Ride, which the studio calls "high-selling". Criticized for the performance of its skateboard peripheral and for its $120 price at a time when constrained consumers were resisting high price points, the game sold only 114,000 across three platforms in its first calendar month on sale. Despite this, studio president Josh Tsui touts the game's "retail success" -- thanks to which, he adds, "interest in Robomodo has grown." "As a result, we are looking to add to our strong and experienced team," Tsui continues -- 17 percent more staff in the coming months, as Robomodo seeks team members for "projects across all platforms." Activision, for its part, says it still finds the peripheral-equipped skateboard game "very compelling", and that it plans to refine the tech on the software side. Robomodo was formed in 2008 after the closure of Electronic Arts' Chicago studio by Tsui and four other partners, most of whom began at Midway together on Mortal Kombat and worked together through Fight Night 3 at EA Chicago. Soon after the studio was established, it struck the Tony Hawk Ride deal with Activision thanks in part to the team's experience working with arcade hardware. "Our culture is focused on enabling game designers and artists to innovate, while providing them with proper management oversight and technology support," says Tsui. "As evidence from our recent game release, Robomodo supports out-of-the-box thinking and new creative ways to approach gameplay."
You May Also Like
