Jonathan Knight Leaves RockYou on a High Note, Heading to Zynga

Jonathan Knight, former SVP of Games at RockYou, has left the social game developer and publisher for a position at Zynga, RockYou CEO Lisa Marino tells us.

Knight joined RockYou after a nine-year stint at EA as an executive producer and vice president with credits on The Sims series, The Simpsons Game, and Dante’s Inferno. Marino told us back in April that he was brought in specifically to rebuild RockYou’s games business after the company struggled to transition from its origins as a photo-sharing app developer and advertising network to serious social game developer. To that purpose, Knight oversaw development on the Zoo World franchise and the launch of its sequel, and the acquisitions of developers 3 Blokes, Playdemic, and 3D social game engine developer TirNua.

Though RockYou‘s overall traffic declined by more than 50% across monthly and daily active users during Knight’s 11 months at the company, changes to its ad platform and key content updates to specific titles yielded rapid growth for Zoo World 2 and Playdemic’s Gourmet Ranch. The latest game launch is 3 Blokes’ Galactic Allies, which went live last week. Its next game is likely going to be Cloudforest Expedition from partner studio Loot Drop, which is expected to launch sometime this fall.

“We hired [Knight] to help us build out a portfolio of great products and he’s done the job,” Marino says. She tells us that Knight’s duties as SVP have been transferred to internal team members for the time being with no mention of seeking a replacement right away. “We have built a strong team of talent through a careful hiring process, our Studio Partners program, and acquisitions over the past year. The departure of Jonathan will not impact our game development pipeline or our plans to continue to launch quality titles.”

Knight declined to comment on his employment status at Zynga. It is not listed on his LinkedIn profile as of press time.

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Zoo World creator RockYou's Jonathan Knight leaves for Zynga

And there goes another. Inside Social Games reports that Jonathan Knight (pictured), former SVP of Games at RockYou, has left the company for Zynga. The company's--best known for Zoo World--CEO Lisa Marino confirmed the move. Before his departure, Knight oversaw the acquisitions of studios like 3 Blokes, which just launched Galactic Allies, and Playdemic of Gourmet Ranch fame.

"We hired [Knight] to help us build out a portfolio of great products and he's done the job," Marino told ISG. "We have built a strong team of talent through a careful hiring process, our Studio Partners program, and acquisitions over the past year. The departure of Jonathan will not impact our game development pipeline or our plans to continue to launch quality titles."

Knight has a deep history in the games business, coming to RockYou from veteran publisher EA as VP and executive VP for nine years. During that time, Knight oversaw major releases like entries in The Sims series and The Simpsons Game. In fact, ISG recalls that Knight was brought in to help RockYou transform from a social app developer into a social game creator.

The move happens just as RockYou prepares to launch Cloudforest Expedition on Facebook with designer John Romero's Loot Drop. Knight joins a number of major video game execs that have flocked to Zynga in the past year, many of which coming from EA. The company's CCO Jeff Schappert recently left for Zynga, who was then followed by NBA Jam creator Mark Turmell and EA Play exec Jeff Karp. We've contacted Zynga for comment as to what Knight might be up to with the company.

What do you think of Knight's move from RockYou to Zynga? What are your thoughts on RockYou's stable of Facebook games thus far? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.

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FarmVille Enchanted Love Animals: Welsh Corgi, Knight Steed re-release

by Brandy Shaul, Posted Apr 28th 2011 12:19AM

While we've been looking forward to the release of the Corgi in FarmVille for a few days now, with tonight's FarmVille update, the waiting game has stopped. Unfortunately, so has my excitement. The Welsh Corgi isn't actually a "puppy," able to be fed and grown into an adult. It's a full-grown animal just like a cow or sheep you may purchase from the store, with this one costing 18 Farm Cash.

You'll know that you're not getting an actual dog when the "Buy" button simply takes you to your farm where you can place the Corgi on your land. If it were a functional dog in the game, remember that you'd be asked to choose its color and its name before purchasing it. Either way, the Corgi can be "harvested" every two days, and you'll receive 90 coins when you do so.

The other new animal(s) released this evening is also a bit disappointing, as the Knight Steed (and therefore the Knight Steed Foal) were released just back in February as part of the game's Fairy Tale theme. If you missed picking up the Steed then, you can do so now for the same price of 26 Farm Cash. You'll still be able to collect from the Steed every three days, unless you put it in your horse stable, where you have the chance of breeding a foal. Just don't hurriedly purchase this Steed thinking it's a new one for your collection, as it's definitely not.

These two Enchanted Love / Royal Wedding-inspired animals will be available in the game's store for the next two weeks. Will you purchase either of them? Let us know in the comments.
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Tags: corgi, enchanted love items, farmville, farmville animals, farmville enchanted love items, knight steed, royal wedding, zynga

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Traction for The Dark Knight Leads Warner Bros to Rent More Films Via Facebook

Warner Bros has expanded its test of renting films through Facebook, adding “Watch” tabs to Pages for five more films. Since its release on March 8th, 98,330 users have engaged with the “Watch The Dark Knight” app hosting the original test of the streaming service. The streaming app for the additional films, developed by Milyoni, has not been changed to bring Facebook’s social features any closer to the viewing experience.

The five films to receive renting capabilities are “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”, “Inception”, “Life as We Know It”, and “Yogi Bear.” The inclusion of both complicated, more adult films and family films may help Warner Bros determine if a specific audience type is more receptive to Facebook rentals.

The near 100,000 users of the Dark Knight app, according to Facebook’s Open Graph protocol, only represent 1.6% of The Dark Knight Page’s total fans, and we can’t tell how many actually paid the 30 Facebook Credits, or $3, to rent the film. Still, the traction was apparently sufficient to warrant further testing.

The rate at which The Dark Knight’s Page has been adding fans has slightly increased from roughly 10,000 to 17,000 new fans a day during March, according to PageData, our fan growth tracking service. This indicates the streaming rentals may have somewhat increased virality. Note that the Page grew 1.8 million fans between March 14th and 18th, but that this is likely due to unofficial Dark Knight Pages being folded into the official Page.

Warner Bros could do much more to stimulate mentions of the rental service, though. Users can click Facebook and Twitter share buttons within the streaming app, but can’t compose their own updates from scratch, or leave any sort of public comments while viewing.

The addition of Facebook’s Comments Box social plugin, the option to chat with other viewers, or a persistent status update field could help the Warner Bros film rental service gain more visibility in the news feed, drawing in new customers. The ability to gift a rental to a friend, or watch a film simultaneously with friends using different computers could also drive sales.

Before the film studio concludes its test of the value of offering streaming rentals through the social network, it needs to make sure its app takes advantage of all of Facebook’s viral channels. Users aren’t watching in a silent theater or alone on their couch  – they’re a click away from discussing the film with all their friends. Watching films on Facebook could be a whole new social experience, but Warner Bros or any other long-form content distributor will need design their apps to promote interaction with friends.

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FarmVille Fairy Tale Decorations: Knight Gnome, Green Willow Tree, & More

by Brandy Shaul, Posted Feb 28th 2011 12:33AM

As part of tonight's FarmVille update, we see the release of four new decorative items in the Fairy Tale limited edition item theme. These items are some of those that we saw in the latest Fairy Tale Theme Showcase video last week, and are split evenly between those that cost Farm Cash, and those that go for coins.

The premium items are the Knight Gnome (an accompaniment to the previously released Princess Gnome), and the Green Willow Tree. The Green Willow Tree is a fairly inexpensive item, as far as Farm Cash prices go, costing 6 Farm Cash and rewarding you with 600 experience points for purchasing it. The Knight Gnome, meanwhile, comes with the high price that we expect of gnomes, at 15 Farm Cash. You'll receive 1500 experience points for adding one to your farm.

Meanwhile, the two coin-only items are the Gumdrop Sprinkle and the Mermaid Fountain, which cost 8,000 and 240,000 coins, respectively. While it's not technically set up as one, the Gumdrop Sprinkle seems like it would be a perfect fencing for your other Fairy Tale items, as it is a skinny, rectangular object. Whether or not Zynga released them with that as the intentional design usage isn't clear, but it's an idea to keep in mind all the same.

These decorations will be available in the store for the next 14 days, so shop fast to ensure you don't miss them as they will expire from the store after that time.

Which of these new decorations are you most looking forward to adding to your farm? Let us know in the comments.
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Tags: farmville, farmville fairy tale items, FarmvilleFairyTaleItems, zynga

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FarmVille Fairy Tale Avatar Costumes: Fairy, Princess, Knight & More

by Brandy Shaul, Posted Feb 21st 2011 7:11PM

What better way to really show your love for Fairy Tales and all things fantasy-related in FarmVille than to deck out your in-game avatar in one of the game's newest themed costumes? These costumes will see your character jumping right into a storybook, but there are more options available here if you're a girl player, than if you're a boy.

Either way, you can now pick up a complete Fairy Costume (including Wings) for 10 Farm Cash), a Knight Costume (with a helmet that covers your avatar's entire head) for 30 Farm Cash, and a Princess dress and shoes for 100,000 coins. If you'd like the hat to complete this Princess outfit, this is unfortunately a separate purchase, being available for 5 Farm Cash on its own.

The only good thing about the above is the fact that you can simply purchase the Damsel Hat and leave the Princess dress alone, if you're simply looking for some nice headwear, rather than the full ensemble. Regardless of which on you choose, all will be available in the game for the next two weeks. We'll be sure to let you know if Zynga releases more themed costumes in the future, so keep checking back.

What other kinds of Fairy Tale themed costumes would you like to see released in the game? Let us know in the comments.
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Tags: farmville, farmville fairy tale items, FarmvilleFairyTaleItems, zynga

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From Gardener To Game-Maker: Charlie Knight On Reaching Scoregasm

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Sunday, February 13, 2011 From Gardener To Game-Maker: Charlie Knight On Reaching Scoregasm

[Our own Simon Parkin caught up with Charlie Knight, who left his job as a gardener in 2006 to make games for a living, just as his fourth and most ambitious title, shoot 'em up Scoregasm nears completion.]

In 2006, UK independent game developer Charlie Knight gave up his job as a professional gardener to fulfill a childhood dream of making video games. Five years on and his fourth and most ambitious title, Scoregasm, is nearing completion.

In contrast to Knight's previous three games -- all shoot 'em ups that were written and completed in a matter of weeks -- work has been progressing on Scoregasm for close to two years.

In a new indie-centric interview, Simon Parkin caught up with the developer to find out what life has been like working on an indie game alone for such a stretch of time, and what Knight's aspirations are for the future.

Simon Parkin: How did you get started as an independent developer?

Charlie Knight: It started as a hobby. I’d bought a computer and didn’t really know what to do with it, so I thought I’d try to fulfill my childhood ambition of making a computer game. It’s kind of spiraled out of control since then...

SP: How did the idea for your first game, Bullet Candy come about? What was the reception like?

CK: I’d seen some website that was running a competition for the best clone of Jeff Minter’s Llamatron, which I’d really enjoyed on my Atari ST, and thought I’d have a go at making something in that style, but with added fireworks.

The reception was pretty good actually. Lot’s of positive reviews on the web and in print and nice feedback from various people. This was quite a while ago though, I don’t suppose I’d fare as well these days with that game. I think timing played a pretty important part in the game's success.

SP: Is game creation your sole source of income? If so, how is that working out?

CK: Pretty much. I have a part time keep fit job that stops me turning into a gelatinous blob, but doesn't pay much. The rest comes from my games. How does it work out? Ok, there are some pretty scary moments sometimes, but I can afford to eat and pay rent most of the time.

SP: What has been your most successful titles to date?

CK: Bullet Candy in terms of sales. Last time I checked I’d sold more copies of that game than I’ve had downloads of Space Phallus, which is free!

SP: How have you been working to make your titles stand out? Where do people primarily come across them from?

I try to make my games uniquely me, in whatever way is most appropriate for the game I’m working on, if that makes sense, which it probably doesn’t. Visuals count for a lot before people actually play, so I try to make my games stand out in this way, and then surprise people by making the game itself super fun once they’ve downloaded it. Of all my games, I guess Space Phallus is probably the best example of this.

People come across my games from all sorts of places. When I launch a new game, I don’t exclusively aim for gaming sites, not all gamers read these. In fact, I don’t tend to particularly, so it seems daft to only go with games sites.

Which has been the most successful distribution channel for you to date?

Steam by a loooooong way! Those guys are great! After them, I’ve worked pretty hard to make my own website my second biggest source of income. My last two games I’ve released as donationware, which has helped with this.

Plus, it lets people from countries with weaker economies buy a copy without breaking the bank and there seem to be far fewer copies of Irukandji on torrent/download sites than Bullet Candy had.

SP: Why have you decided to focus on shoot 'em ups exclusively?

CK: Mostly because I like playing them myself. It’s important I think to work on something you want to play; personally I don’t think I could make a good game in a genre I don’t completely love. I don’t think I could write a great strategy title, or RPG, I’m just not into that sort if thing as much as arcade games.

Also, I find i can be more abstract visually speaking with visuals in shooters. I’m not a great character artist, and I like making effects in code (it’s how a lot of my games start out!) so I guess shooters are a good fit for me!

SP: Two years is a lot of time to sink into an indie game. Why have you decided to invest so heavily into this one project?

CK: Two years is ages! Especially given my previous 2 projects, Irukandji and Bullet Candy Perfect, were short 2 to 3 week things. I’d been wanting to make a bigger game for a while, and I’d had several aborted attempts at making something that would scale up well before starting Scoregasm.

Much of the reason it’s taken so long, and the reason that I struggle to make big projects stick in general, is that I don’t tend to plan things in too much detail, and instead try to work from a mental idea of how the game should feel. For some games, this is quite a quick process.

With Irukandji, my idea was to take some of the ethereal sea creatures I’d seen in the BBC documentary Deep Blue, and add lots of lasers. This idea didn’t even have a set gameplay style when I started, but I went with a vertical scrolling shooter as it seemed to be the best way to showcase the enemies I’d programmed already.

Looking back, I think some of the reason Scoregasm has taken so long is that I started off on the wrong foot. I’d been teaching myself to program 3D graphics, and as a kind of testbed, I’d loaded in the enemies and player objects from Bullet Candy and started to play around with things. I’d got the whole game running in a couple of days, and though ‘wow, this is great! I should spend a couple of months making some new levels and enemies for a Bullet Candy 2 game!’.

I spend a couple of weeks on this, made about 15 new levels with different enemies for each one, and sent some test copies out to some friends.

What was their feedback?

I got some nice feedback from that build, and people seemed to like it well enough. But after giving it some thought I couldn’t see myself wanting to finish it. It was just Bullet Candy with different shaped levels, with all the same power-ups and score mechanics, and the counter intuitive suicide-survival thing that confused everyone the first time around.

I decided that if I was going to do another top down game I’d do it properly, and make something that I wanted to play and that I’d enjoy making and that would address the issues I had with my previous attempt. It was about this point that the timing of the project took a backseat!

What were the issues you'd had with Bullet Candy?

I got to thinking about what I wanted from the game, and how I could improve on Bullet Candy, and I ended up with a list 2 pages long of things I hated about Bullet Candy, and how I could change it for the better. While a lot of this was fairly nit picky, the list ended up dictating how Scoregasm’s world would be constructed, and how you would flow from space to space as you progress through the game.

One of the big problems I had with Bullet Candy, and also other similar games, was how you always started on the easy levels, and worked you way up to the hard ones at the end. While this is fine when you are learning the game, after you’ve got the controls nailed, it becomes tiresome to have to wade through all the easy stuff to get to the good bits.

Bullet Candy had a continue option, that let you start the game from later levels, but it shortened your game and also made it so that you couldn’t get a good high score. I considered having a starting bonus that would bump up your score, but it still didn’t address the issue of shortened play time.

With this in mind, I decided a good course of action would be to have multiple paths through the game, with each level offering up multiple exits to different levels with greater or lesser difficulties. Initially I had the exits leading to the same level with the difficulty adjusted, but it felt like a bit of a cop out, so I made each exit lead to a totally new level.

This worked great! It added a cool exploring element to the game, as well as allowing players to dictate to a certain degree what sort of a game they wanted to play, i.e. A relaxing easy game, or a hard game, or just their favorite levels and so on. It also tripled the number of levels I’d need to create, and tripled the amount of levels I’d need to make flow into one another. Time++;

Another thing I was keen not to repeat was the constant pace of the levels. Bullet Candy’s levels were all the same, just with different enemies. You never really needed to approach a level in a different manner to the last, so I wanted to have a really good variety of different levels that would make the player change strategy in order to do well.

In Scoregasm, I’ve got a pretty cool range of different level styles in the main game, going from the traditional player in the middle of a large arena with enemies spawning from the sides survival style areas to very claustrophobic areas where your movement is more limited, horizontal and vertical scrolling sections, levels with puzzle elements, vortex levels that suck you into the centre, obstacle courses, boss areas and so on.

Outside of the main game, I wanted to do more with this idea, so each level also has a challenge mode. Some levels lent themselves pretty well to being riffed on and being made sufficiently different, such as the asteroid levels which have been made into endless high score mini-games, or levels which could be turned into a time trial, or being shrunk down in size or whatever.

Some levels didn’t work so well being adjusted in this way, so I made totally new ones, which range from target practice, to vegetable collecting, to invisible mazes whose wall only become visible when they are shot, pig rescuing, coleslaw making, and also nods to some of my favorite games, so there’s a Breakout themed level, Space Invaders, Bangai-oh, Cave style boss levels, a Magnetic Shaving Derby stage, where you need to shave a huge face with a spinning disc that chases you around and lots of other fun stuff.

SP: What else did you want to achieve apart from variety?

CK: I wanted excessive amounts of stuff filling the screen for the player to blow up. The problem with this was the defensive gameplay style I had. Normally, you’d have to run away and shoot from a safe distance, but if the screen was filled with stuff there wouldn’t be anywhere to run to! So in order to allow for lots of exciting things going on, I had to change the game style to allow for the player to be able to cope in a way that didn’t require god-like reflexes.

After several attempts to solve this problem, I finally settled on the close range attack; a metered melee style attack that works in a short radius around the player ship, which contrasts the shooting action to give a nice balance of aggressive and defensive play. Aggressive in that you can use the attack to ram into swarms of enemies and cause huge damage, and defensive so that you can use it to blast otherwise un-killable enemies and bullets aside and create space to maneuver.

While you can use this attack almost at will, there is an energy bar that decreases as you use it, and which increases over time and as you kill enemies by shooting them. You also score more points by using the close range attack, so having to recharge by shooting before heading back into the more enemy-dense areas further exaggerates the aggression/defense balance, as well as adding some risk/reward!

So in a way, Scoregasm is Bullet Candy with the benefit of hindsight, but at the same time it’s not Bullet Candy at all, it’s a completely different game. It’s not a sequel. It’s also a huge game, with a lot of content. Completists will get their money's worth, casual players can dip in and out without having to repeat anything, and it’s varied enough to stay interesting. That’s why it’s taken so long!

Plus, it’s really bloody good :D

SP: What's your primary aim with your games?

CK: My primary aim is to enjoy what I’m doing. I love art and music, and games let me combine the two with added fun mixed in in the form of gameplay. Ultimately, if I can continue enjoying making things, and earning enough to live, I’ll carry on.

SP: What's the biggest challenge currently facing you as an indie dev?

CK: I guess the biggest thing for me is letting people know I’m here, and that I make games. It’s as much effort to do this as it is write the game in the first place. Maybe more-so!

SP: Where would you like to be in 12 months?

CK: On more platforms! I’ve always worked on home computer platforms so far, but I’d like to try my hand at making something for iOS, and maybe other mobile platforms. Once I’ve finished Scoregasm I’m going to start researching this.

Posted by Simon Carless on February 13, 2011 12:00 PM | Permalink

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