 |
"The
growth potential for everything gaming-related in India is
huge, but the biggest area of domestic growth is projected
to be in mobile gaming and online gaming."
|
What
is the business model for Exigent 3D? Also please tell us what your
short and long term plans include?
Exigent deals simply in art outsourcing for the gaming industry.
We focus on high-quality content for international clients, on platforms
such as Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. In addition to doing projects
for clients, in the short term we are focusing on training and building
up our presence here in India.
What
is the growth potential for Indian Game service providers and IP
creators?
The growth potential for everything gaming-related in India is huge,
but the biggest area of domestic growth is projected to be in mobile
gaming and online gaming. Compared to the rest of the world, India
already has an abnormally large percentage of mobile users who purchase
and download games on their handsets - these are casual gamers.
Online gaming is also very popular here, and professional gaming
competitions are starting to pop up around the country. I think
console gaming might finally start to take off in India if Microsoft
can get Xbox Live working here. Casual games (through Xbox Live
Market Place) and multiplayer games are a huge strength of the 360
and jive well with the growth direction of the market. Nintendo
is also in a unique position to take advantage of the strong casual
gaming and online gaming market in India with the Wii. I love the
Wii, so I hope they make a move to bring it here soon!
 |
Between
IP creation and service provision, which one do you think is going
to account for a major chunk of revenues for the next two years
in India?
Personally, I think the big bucks are going to come from outsourcing
in the near term. The domestic gaming market isn't large enough
to create huge revenues for most studios. However, the great thing
about outsourcing is that it gets you on the radar of the big international
companies who are keeping a close eye on this emerging market, and
gives local talent invaluable experience producing high-quality
content. 3-5 years out when the market is more mature, it will be
these same Indian studios that begin profiting from their own IP
both domestically and internationally.
Your
personal background and the VFX domain expertise that you bring
to Gaming…
I got my start in Film VFX out in Los Angeles. I worked in the industry
for three years before I made the transition to video games. I felt
that VFX work and animation had gotten a little stale by the time
I entered into the industry. Everyone was doing the same things
on every shot, and most of the hard problems were already solved.
Considering all of the long hours I was putting in at my job, this
wasn't very satisfying for me.
I was
always a gamer by nature, and had been working on exciting side
projects since I was in college. A lot of the principals of VFX
applied directly to gaming, because the hardware was getting fast
enough to render VFX techniques in real time. Gaming wasn't "low
poly" any more. Some friends and I created a company called
Artificial Studios that produced a high-end game engine called Reality
Engine. It was an unpaid second job for me, but when Epic Games
purchased Reality Engine in May 2005, I finally had the chance to
leave VFX and start a gaming studio in San Diego, CA (Boanerges
Studios). Now a year later I'm in India working on all sorts of
exciting next-gen projects. I have never looked back on my decision
- making video games is the best career in the world!
What
according to you will be the challenges for Indian Gaming in next
2 years?
The biggest challenge for the Indian gaming industry is going to
be training. There is a huge shortage of candidates for jobs in
this country. Additionally, the quality of many candidates is below-average
because many of the training facilities don't spend enough time
on the fundamentals required to be a good programmer or a good artist
in this industry. Institutes need to recognize that being a software
engineer and a game programmer are two separate education paths,
and not just two different job descriptions. They need to attract
and cultivate people with artistic talent, not people who just want
to push buttons in a 3D package and call themselves animators. It
seems there is a stigma in Indian culture (with parents especially)
that being an "artist" and working on "games"
means you don't have a real job, or that you aren't going to be
financially successful. It only takes one glance at the NASSCOM
report to realize that being a cg artist or a game developer pays
very well, so the parents should be supportive and encourage the
passion in their sons and daughters to do something that they love!
|
"As
the market grows here domestically, the top talent will want
to stick around"
|
 |
Your
comments on the recent NASSCOM event…
NASSCOM was a great experience for me. I enjoyed being on the panel
discussion and I relished the chance to meet other gamers and developers
in the industry. It was refreshing to see that India is taking gaming
seriously, and I was impressed with the amount of things I learned
from the NASSCOM report on animation and gaming in India. I won't
miss any gaming-related NASSCOM events as long as I am in India!
What
do you think are the strengths / weaknesses of Indian artists /
programmers?
As a group, Indian artists and programmers lack nothing but experience.
Nothing prevents Indian talent from becoming as good as or better
than anyone else in the world. Unfortunately most of the really
good people tend to leave India to seek employment at top international
companies, taking with them a wealth of knowledge and ability. As
the market grows here domestically, the top talent will want to
stick around!
Do
you think programming and engineering services in gaming will get
a fillip in India?
It's tough to outsource programming for a game project. It really
requires that you outsource the entire game in order for it to work
well. Unfortunately most studios lack the experience to execute
a complete project from start to finish for the international market.
However, like many things, this will change as the market grows
domestically. It has already happened with a few standout developers
in India.
Why
did you set up shop in Delhi?
I get this question a lot. People always tell me there are more
artists in Bangalore or Mumbai or Hyderabad. I know. The problem
is that many of the artists in this industry have the wrong type
of experience, and we don't want those people. We are in a unique
situation where top individuals from our U.S. studio have relocated
to India to run operations here and give our artists the specialized
training and experience they aren't getting elsewhere. The average
experience level of Indian artists in our studio is 0-3 years, and
we like it that way. We take gamers and artists and turn them into
great game artists quickly. We have top industry talent working
on prominent AAA projects using the latest technology.
What
is the criteria you follow at Exigent to employ people?
We only hire people who are passionate about art and have a continual
desire to learn and improve their skills. Every artist should start
the day thinking "Man, every bit of art I have done until now
really sucks. Today I will get better." If you ever think you
are good enough, you may as well retire, because the next guy will
pass you by and you really WILL suck.
We
also have to like you. We play games together, we watch movies together,
we play sports together, and we grow together. If you don't get
along with the rest of the team, or have an ego problem, we're not
interested. We don't care where you have worked, or what your resume
says about how great you are, or how much experience you have. Everyone
who comes to Exigent must be talented, humble, and have a strong
desire to grow as part of a team. It might sound simple, but these
qualities don't always exist together in the same individual.
You
talked something about training programs for students with local
schools and colleges
Yes, some of the schools in Delhi are very good. In fact a lot of
studios down south recruit a considerable amount of talent from
the north. We hope that by working with local schools and implementing
internship and guest lecturing programs, we can help produce the
right type of candidates for careers in high-end game art. This
will benefit not only us, but India as a whole. We strongly believe
that what is good for India is good for us as well. Of course, students
will also see that they don't have to leave Delhi/Noida to get an
exciting job at a world-class art studio working on unique projects
that will kick their career into overdrive.
|
