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Aspyr Media is one of the Mac gaming industry's most heavy hitters. Every year, they manage to bring some of the world's hottest titles to our small, yet ardently loyal platform. In the past few months, Aspyr has shipped big name games, such as Battlefield: 1942 and Command & Conquer: Generals, with still more to come.Of course, these games don't just appear on the Mac OS by way of magic, it takes hard work and suave negotiating skill. The man behind said suaveness is Ted Staloch, Aspyr Media's go-to-guy when big deals need done. Recently, I had a chance to chat with Ted regarding Aspyr and their line-up, original game development and a few surprises. Read on...
Phillips: Ok Ted, for those who are unaware, could you tell us what you do at Aspyr Media?
Staloch: I oversee the licensing and development groups at Aspyr. One of the coolest thing about my job is; seeing the future. In the past month I have seen and worked on a couple deals that won't be shipping until mid 2005. It's fun to see what the EA's and Activision's of the world are working on today. You should see ".." (I can't say the name, due to Non-disclosure Agreement), it's a sure #1 hit:)Glenda Adams manages our PC and MAC development, including our amazing Aspyr studio. Chris Norden is our Director of Mobile and Handheld. Both are complete Rockstars. So, most of my Development work today is working external developers on original content.
Original content. Are we doing original content now too?
Phillips: Over the last 18 months Aspyr has grown in both products and company size. You’ve branched out into Gameboy Advance & PC game publishing, you sell Indy style DVDs & music CDs and you’ve hired an internal development team, led by Glenda Adams. Are you all feeling any growing pains or is it smooth sailing for the H.M.S. Aspyr?
Staloch: We saw these media worlds coming together a couple years ago and wanted to play in all arenas. The significance of music in games is evident. We also see the DVD platform as an Entertainment platform, not just a movie platform. So, music, games, videos are all viable with DVD technology.
All this effort is driving our growth, which is significantly helping our Mac effort. Music, film, games are all important for Apple and the Mac install base. It's nearly impossible to make a film or music cd, without a Mac or Mac OS. When we licensed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 for the PC, it was the only way a Mac version could have existed, by us licensing and developing both simultaneously.
I just realized, none of this answers your question. Yes, we have had growing pains. We have limited cash to invest in these medias which are full of unlimited content. You would be amazed at the movies, TV series, bands, and games we could have signed with a less limited budget.
Phillips: What are the main differences between Mac vs. PC publishing, if any?
Staloch: Technically, I'm not sure there are a ton of differences. Certainly, Quality Assurance is more of a burden on PC, with various 3rd party devices and components.
Marketing and Sales, well the PC market is just more generic. The great thing about Apple and Mac fans is we know where they shop and what they read. Of course the downfall is that the Mac market is less than 3% world-wide and distribution is limited to a few key outlets and a few publications.
Our core Mac base simply has more of a soul, which is what all us at Aspyr feel. Much like VW and Harley-Davidson, Apple users are fans of Apple the company, not just their products.
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