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When he wants to watch a movie with someone, he usually asks what kind of movie he’s in the mood to watch. If you want to play a game with someone, you must first ask them if they are a player. That was an important point that Jenova Chen, co-founder of Thatgamecompany, made during her first day at our digital GamesBeat Summit 2020.
His studio has become famous for its calm and mood-inspiring games like Flower and Journey. Thatgamecompany’s latest project, Sky: Children of Light, is a multiplayer game for Android and iOS. It has a similar feel to something like Journey, but it has an additional focus on the social aspects.
But that posed a problem. Thatgamecompany was successful due to the serene quality of its games. If you play online, you know that experience is often anything less. With Journey, the studio solved this by removing any type of chat feature. The characters really couldn’t communicate with each other through any means other than using the game mechanics, for example maybe you would jump to get another player’s attention.
That worked for Journey, which was a relatively linear and simple experience. It also limits you to seeing only one other player at a time. But Sky is a bigger and more complicated experience with more players.
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Chen noted that Thatgamecompany’s team wants to make high-quality games, but they want to connect people through positive emotional experiences. That means attracting a wider audience, not just core players. One way the studio has done this is by showcasing their projects in galleries and museums, attracting people who wouldn’t normally try a gaming experience. It is also important to make games accessible. Thatgamecompany Flower, for example, used motion controls on PlayStation 3. This made it easier for people who were not used to game controllers to enjoy it.
Fighting loneliness
But with Sky, the studio wanted to have an accessible experience that could bring people together. Chen noted that many people use games to make connections and combat loneliness. He noted, for example, his own experience in World of Warcraft, which he spent three years playing.
“The problem with World of Warcraft is that it is a dungeon and looting game,” said Chen. Sometimes Chen would want to socialize, but others were busy fighting bosses. Worse still, as a new immigrant, Chen would sometimes be judged by other players for his English. It made him want an online game that was more about sharing emotions with others. He also wanted an experience where players weren’t judged on things like their gender, race, or social status.
Some of these ideas materialized through Journey. As previously noted, the game made it impossible to know anything specific about the person you were playing with, but you were still able to establish a connection with them. Part of that was accomplished through scale. Players find themselves in a large world with stunning landscapes, making them feel more dependent on other players.
But Sky was going to be something different. Yes, it would have more players. But it was also going to be a free mobile game. And that meant that monetization was going to be a factor. Most free games have players who spend money to satisfy emotions like greed, pride, or envy. For Sky, the trick was for players to open their wallets for more altruistic reasons, such as showing compassion or humility. For example, players can buy gifts and send them to other players, which encourages kindness and generosity.
Family and community
“Sky is essentially a game about humanity, community and wonder,” said Chen. He took a page from the Walt Disney philosophy when he created Disneyland. The goal is to make everyone feel like a child, putting everyone in balance. You are supposed to find fallen stars. And to do that, you must collaborate with other players.
Up to eight people can travel together on Sky. And while in Journey you may never see a player more than once, Sky is making it possible to create longer friendships. As you interact more with a specific player, you can unlock more social features to use with them, including chatting. This means that you need to develop some kind of wordless relationship with someone in the game before you start texting them, which often leads to friendlier interactions.
She also realizes that many families play together, often a mother who plays with her daughter. The community can also feel like a kind of family. Even the emotional experience of death is having an emotional impact throughout the game: Chen noticed that when a player died, his sister took over his account. Sky is giving people a way to connect with each other to help them overcome even the pain of losing a loved one. Meanwhile, if you played something like Call of Duty, a stranger is more likely to call you by name.
As with previous Thatgamecompany projects, Sky is an emotional experience. But it is bringing people together unlike any other game the studio has created before.
