Who's this Klanger? An interview with Ívar Emilsson
March 01, 2016
For the third instalment of our Who's this Klanger? series, I sat down with Klang's Game Design Mastermind and Co-Founder Ívar Emilsson. He's the man of many roles - anything and everything from product to management. He's also a multiplayer game design veteran, which is why ReRunners is pretty, pretty, pretty awesome.
So, Ívar, tell the readers about your gaming background.
“I've been a huge gamer ever since I can remember; it started off innocently, but gaming quickly became a bit of an obsession of mine.
I always knew I wanted to create games when I grew up, that or become an astronaut, haha. My first opportunity into the industry came in 2005 when I saw an advert on an Icelandic forum where CCP was looking to hire, so I applied and got accepted. I was 21 at the time and the youngest employee at CCP. I then stayed there for almost eight years working on EVE Online, and then later DUST 514, watching the company grow from a few dozen to several hundred employees.”
During your time at CCP you worked on the MMO, EVE Online, then on to the MMOFPS, EVE: DUST 514. What was that shift like?
“I moved to CCP's office in Shanghai to introduce more MMO-focused mechanics into DUST 514, during the later phase of the game's production. It was great experience to take on the various challenges when catering towards a totally different type of gamer, on a totally different platform.
The DUST 514 vision was truly amazing and what we were trying to achieve both technologically and game design wise was really ambitious, that’s what made it a really exciting and fun project to work on… I’m still a bit bummed the vision was never fully realised.”
Why make the move to creating mobile games?
“I love multiplayer games, especially MMOs. Playing with or against someone creates this unique intense feeling, that you can’t really get from single player games. But, these games often have a really high barrier of entry, so most people don’t get to experience that feeling.
Our goal was to lower the barrier of entry into multiplayer games, and to bring that feeling to a larger audience, and we felt the best way to achieve that was through mobile.“
What's your favourite game ever and why?
“It’s impossible for me to choose a single favourite, there are so many great games that have influenced me in some way. Among my favourites are Chrono Trigger, Super Metroid, Minecraft, Shadow of the Colossus, Super Mario World, Dark Souls, EVE Online, Grim Fandango, Final Fantasy VII, Dwarfs Fortress, DOTA2, Half-Life, Fallout 2, and … yeah.”
Stay tuned, readers, for the next part of Who's this Klanger?
