Playdead

Why you always need to be

Presented by Dino Patti

For the love of the game

Presentation overview

• About me

• The game we made

• The industry

• The company we created

About me

• Made my first computer program when I was 6 years old

• Made money by supporting computers when I was 16

• Headhunted to Copenhagen when I was 19

• Fulltime with IT since 2000

• Created and directed by Arnt Jensen

• 2D physics based puzzle platformer

• Artistic black and white aesthetics

• Minimalistic design

• Challenging gameplay

Released on Xbox LIVE Arcade Juli 21st

as part of ”Summer of Arcade” promo

Death of the industry

History

Visions

• Creative freedom

• Make original games

• Create dream jobs

The road

• Independence

• Modern approach to run a business

• Iterate, Iterate, Iterate

Playdead at a glance

Independent game studio located in Copenhagen

Founded in 2006 byDino Patti and Arnt Jensen

Currently 10 fulltime employees

How did it begin?

Organic Growth

Production

Venture Capital

Test

Marketing

We have decided

• Marketing is expensive

• More marketing = less ”word of mouth”

• Ordinary products need marketing

Success?

Testing

Facts

• 1 test manager

• 2 parttime testers

• Approx 150 tissue testers

• Playing minimum of 3 hours

• 1 year and 3 months

QA Timeline

20102009

Gameplay test

Gold master

Technical test

Testing for success?

We didn’t take any user input during tests – Because we are the designers

What is right for us?!

• Stick to your vision and invest yourself 100%

• NOT going mainstream is good

• Don’t listen to everyone

dino@playdeadgames.com