Interview: Aspyr's Michael Rogers
December 28, 2000 | Jeff Wescott | |
In the Mac games market, few names stand out when compared to the e-game industry as a whole. Game publisher Aspyr has been responsible for delivering cornerstone games like Alpha Centauri, Deus Ex and the Sims. Their work in the past year (and years) has been fundamental to the strong success of our range of choice and Aspyr President Michael Rogers was kind enough to take some time and talk to IMG about how the company fared in 2000, and what it expects to see in the near future.IMG: What was the high point for Aspyr in 2000? Is business good? Rogers: Business has been great. This year was our most productive in terms of products released, and that's probably the high point for us — getting Alpha Centauri, Alien Crossfire, Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Deus Ex, The Sims, Livin' Large, Star Trek Voyager, and Sim Theme Park all out the door was our biggest ever. IMG: What are you looking forward to for Aspyr in 2001? Rogers: Our plans are to continue to bring the best games to the Mac. We'll be trying to round out our product line with different types of games to reach different gamers, and hopefully have some surprises along the way. IMG: Was 2000 a good (or bad) year for the Mac game market in general? Rogers: It's hard for me to say for the whole market, but I can say that 2000 was the best year for Aspyr, both in terms of number of titles released, and unit sales for each individual game. IMG: What was the buying public's reaction to your recent releases? Which one sold the most copies? Rogers: I think the reaction has been very positive overall. We've had a broad mix of games this year, from turn-based strategy like Alpha Centauri, to conspiracy-laden Deus Ex — so there's been something for everyone in our lineup. The Sims has been our best selling game this year. In fact, we're expecting its success to continue into 2001. IMG: What does Aspyr look for when considering games for publication? Rogers: Our main interest is whether the game is fun, and how we think it will match up with the Mac market. We've represented games as off-the-wall as Carmageddon all the way through to Sim Theme Park. We also like games with some kind of "franchise" appeal — not only about sequels, but the kind of games that keep people talking about them long after they have been released.
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