Meet Ogre Head, the Indian studio behind Asura, one of the cooler indie games coming out this year
Last week we chanced upon Asura, a promising hack and slash with elements from the roguelike genre. This heady mix of Diablo and Spelunky is being developed by India’s Ogre Head Studio. We managed to speak to game director and co-founder Zainuddin Fahad to find out what made this new studio tackle a genre that’s not exactly popular among Indian developers.
(See: Asura is a hack and slash roguelike inspired by Indian mythology)
Rocky beginnings
From left to right: Neeraj Kumar, Aubhik Nath, and Zainuddin Fahad.
An ex-Gameshastra employee, Fahad started Ogre Head with two other ex-Gameshastra colleagues, Aubhik Nath and Neeraj Kumar who handle design and tech respectively. During their time at Gameshastra they assisted in the development of many titles across different platforms such as Top Gun (PSP, Android) and Bee Wars (PSP). But it wasn’t work that was creatively satisfying for any of them.
At the time, Rocksalt Interactive, an art services company, was interested in entering the gaming space. The trio jumped ship to spearhead development on Roadkill Xtreme, the company’s debut game. However Rocksalt was not interested in continuing its gaming division and pulled funding. Soon after, Ogre Head Studio was formed with Asura being its debut title.
Inspirations and presentation
Most games based on India usually wear their inspiration on their sleeve. Be it India’s first Playstation 2 title, Hanuman: Boy Warrior or Desi Adda: Games of India, Indian games are usually steeped in so much of their own lore that it’s tough for non-Indians to even understand them, let alone play them. Fahad assures us that this is not the case with Asura.
Yes, the game is inspired by Indian mythology but we’re not making it as obvious as other games have in the past. The focus is on creating a game which has our own flavor in it. Unlike Hanuman that was a literal representation of the mythology, we’re not doing anything to make things too obvious. Even though we use the term “Asura” and the lore is inspired from the Indian mythos, our approach is very stylized from a visual design standpoint instead of showing off a traditional Indian demon.
It’s a slick move that appears to have paid off what with an art style that looks fresh and unique. (And it’s also a good way to avoid any religious controversy.)
Not only working hard but also smart
With vast lore to work with, a robust combat system, tons of loot and runes and bosses, you’d think that Asura is far from completion. Fahad says otherwise. The game is 60 percent complete and the studio plans to start its campaign to bring the game to Steam via the platform’s Greenlight program shortly.
Commendable given the scale Ogre Head wants to achieve and the fact that it’s only been four months in development. However Fahad says its breakneck development speed isn’t as miraculous as most would imagine.
Asura does have a narrative, combat and an insane amount of loot. These are critical since we’re big fans of Diablo. However to allow for a seamless experience regardless of platform, the game is launching with four arenas to begin with. Depending on user response, we’ll create more accordingly.
It’s a smart approach that gives this small team of three the liberty to iterate on consumer demand and build upon what seems to be one of the more promising game universes around. Even with a team of three, Fahad tells us that Ogre Head works 15 to 16 hours a day, seven days a week.
Adventures in publishing
But it hasn’t been easy for Fahad and his team. While Asura was built keeping role-playing and roguelike fans in mind, finding a suitable publishing partner has not been an easy task. The reason is simple: it isn’t free to play.
Every time we show off Asura to a publisher, they love what they see. But the moment they find out it is not free to play, they show us the door.
It’s not news that publishers have embraced the freemium model. Fahad is aware of this, but he wants to give gamers a fair deal.
At the end of it all, it’s about doing right by our audience. I don’t mind making the game free to play, but it has to be fair. So if need be, we could look into allowing users to buy cosmetic items, or things that don’t break gameplay or progression. Stuff like purchasing experience points is out of the question.
Fahad’s words echo the sentiment of many an indie developer in this country. It also highlights the gap globally between publishers who look at profitability and creators who want to do what they perceive as fair.
Asura’s roll-out plan is Steam first and then other platforms such as tablets and hopefully eventually the PS Vita. How things will pan out for Ogre Head are uncertain. Nonetheless, Fahad hasn’t given up. The team is heading to PAX Australia and the Dubai Game Show to show off the game and hopefully attract a publisher. Regardless of the how that goes, it’s good to see an Indian studio try something different from the usual mix of Bollywood and cricket games the country is known for.
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The post Meet Ogre Head, the Indian studio behind Asura, one of the cooler indie games coming out this year appeared first on Games in Asia.
The post Meet Ogre Head, the Indian studio behind Asura, one of the cooler indie games coming out this year appeared first on Games in Asia.
