Lessons from the founders: Rich Vogel and Mark Tucker on building their new NetEase studio

gamedeveloper.com:

"One thing I learned from being independent is that you really don't want to be chasing the money for your payroll," says Rich Vogel, former Bioware veteran and co-founder and CEO of T-Minus Zero Entertainment, during a recent chat at Gamescom 2023. "Because what that leads to is short-term decision making, and that means you're constantly in demo mode versus actually making a game."

Vogel was elaborating on his decision to partner with NetEase to establish T-Minus, which is the latest studio in the Chinese conglomerate's expanding development arsenal, and suggests it was the company's willingness to commit to the journey rather than focus solely on the endgame that sold him on the link-up.

"We talked to a lot of people and NetEase understood our vision better than anybody else–and we discussed this with some big publishers, all the way to equity financing," he adds. "Everyone we talked with asked us 'why don't you work with an existing IP? Why don't you just be very conservative?' And I think if you're conservative you're not going to break out in today's market. There's just too much going on."

Vogel would know. The veteran designer has spent decades building studios like Sony Online Entertainment Austin, BioWare Austin, and Battlecry Studios to work on high-profile titles like Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Elder Scrolls Online, Fallout 76, and more.

Seemingly reluctant to play with somebody else's toys, Vogel says T-Minus has chosen to build its debut action game around a "globally recognized" property that's now in the public domain. Although he can't discuss specifics just yet, Vogel says the project will cater to the current generation of players, meaning it'll be shunning some of the elements