I just read an awesome interview over at The GameJobHunter Blog with Melissa Heidrich of PassionFruit Games. Basically, the interview talks about how Melissa and some coworkers were laid off from their jobs in the gaming industry but then turned around and decided to form their own studio! Too cool! Starting a game studio is kind of one of those far-off someday dreams that Nick and I have. The kind of dream where you think, “That would be really cool,” but you also think “That would be really risky and difficult and maybe isn’t such a good idea.” A group of game industry veterans, however, probably have a better shot at that dream than Nick and I with our combined zero years of professional experience =)
Melissa’s new studio, PassionFruit Games, is releasing its first game this April. The game will be a romance casual game called Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box, based on a novel by Marjorie Liu. The plot sounds really interesting, and the gameplay looks right up my alley! I love casual games, especially ones with an adventure/puzzle/mystery element, which this game seems to have. Plus the beautiful art looks like a joy to play through. I think the thing I’m most excited about for this whole thing is the fact that there’s a new studio out there with female leadership and creative talent. Women are absolutely underrepresented in the gaming industry, and as a result, games designed and marketed with a female audience in mind (and not just male exclusively) are pretty scarce. It’s just so awesome to see a new game out there made by a woman, based on a book written by a woman, with a female lead character that I am excited to play now and probably would have loved to play as a little girl. As the PassionFruit studio website explains, Tiger Eye is a casual game that should appeal to all audiences. It’s a romance game, but that doesn’t mean it’s covered in pink sparkles. A product doesn’t have to be stereotypically feminine in order to reach a female audience, and I think a lot of times it takes female team members to understand that concept and execute it properly.
I think this company is totally inspiring in so many ways. I can’t wait to learn more about them and I hope to see them succeed in the gaming industry!
