Adrienne Law, Manesh Mistry, David Fernádes Huerta, Jonathan Topf
2017 - MV and all that.
A lot happened in the studio in 2017. Not only were we beginning to make MV2 we were also promoting and Lands End VR but even more extreme a project was moving to our new office space in Oval, South London.
After years in the heart of Shoreditch tucked inside the belly of ustwo London design studio we were now stepping out on our own as a separate (but wholly owned) company.
I found an amazing space in an old pickle factory (true) that was roomy, had an incredible on site restaurant and was super convenient for my sons school.
Myself, Pash and Mr. Grey were acting as a brain trust and overseeing the production which had been given to Jonathan ‘Trick Shot’ Topf to run as game director. David wasn’t that happy about that.
We were also settling in the raft of new faces I’d hired and letting them really get their teeth into the design and concept, which was weird at first but as the year ended up being so crazy busy it really worked well.
I was using energy to try and expand the IP out in a similar way to what we did with Whale Trail but hoping it would be on a much bigger scale given the games fame.
With the original Monument Valley being launched with a ‘twitter party ‘ and beer from the studio fridge it was decided to ‘go large’ on MV2. The photos kind of speak for themselves on that front:
As Part of the IP push I even found myself manning a stand alone in a vast Las Vegas IP/merchandising fair as I tried to establish the game as a de facto brand and style choice.
Me on the booth in Las Vegas, not hungover.
Tencent paid an insane amount of money to have the prestige and honour of publishing the game in China. They created some very rare mercy pieces, such as this kind of odd poster:
As was now the norm we got insane coverage from Apple, shown here at the Covent Garden store in London:
Apple loved us so much by this point they even sent the new CEO Tim Cooke. I was really taken aback by how much he sounds like a cowboy like outta them movies…
The gangs all here: Front: Micheal Anderson. Peter Pashley, John Sinclair, Adrienne Law, Steve Bittan, Joel Beardshaw. Back: Me, Todd Baker, Lauren Cason, Lea Schöfelder, Tim Cooke, Wonka, Jonathan Topf, Gray man (back), Max van de Merwe, David FernándesHuerta, Ale Cámara, Manesh Mistry, Florian Veltman, Van Le, Matt Newcombe, Fen Beatty
There a TON of much nicer photos over at Gareth Dutton’s personal website, he was our official photographer at the time:
Towards the end of the year it became apparent that it was time for me to move on from ustwo, after being entwined with the company from its inception my relationship with the founders broke down.
My experience with ustwo was incredible, it was truly a company of its time and we did things that would no longer be possible, both in terms of the work we produced but also the social life.
I’d had a great time but it was time to move on. Next stop my own studio, First Light.