A Visit to Infinite Interactive

Studio Tour from Yug - Wednesday, 08 October 2008 @ 8:43am

It’s taken me awhile to write up this studio tour from when I visited the Infinite Interactive offices a few months ago, but frankly – I don’t feel guilty.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s their fault.

Every time I would think to myself ‘Ok Yug, you have to get a move on with that Infinite Interactive article’, I would then think ‘I’ll need to get some images for Puzzle Quest for it’, and would then naturally move onto ‘Actually, I could go for a quick game of Puzzle Quest right now …’. And Bam! There goes 4 hours, mysteriously lost to the god of the Warlords universe.

It’s like an alcoholic who has to write an article about beer. Guess what’s going to happen?

It seems beating Puzzle Quest was the only cure, and I finally finished the DS version the other night (mind you, I’m only up to Level 30 on the Xbox Live version, so there’s plenty more play time there). So here I am, finally able to recount the studio tour Oracle and I did at one of Australia's most iconic game developers - Infinite Interactive.

Obviously not needing to splash cash on a fancy sign on the front door.

Situated in a relatively small studio in Port Melbourne, Infinite is one of those developers that doesn't look like it from the outside. In fact, from the outside you'd be hard pressed to believe it was an 'office' at all, looking more like a strangely shaped block of flats. Walking inside however, you instantly see the signs - from the display cabinet featuring their boxed collection of released games, so the signet Penny Arcade artwork on the walls.

Copyright Penny Arcade

We're greeted by Janeen Fawkner, Associate Producer, who takes us on a trip around the studio. Feeling more like a converted home rather than the typical office cubicles, the atmosphere is very chilled and relaxed. It had the independent vibe about it (The testing area was in the garage) while at the same time coming across as much more professional than most indie studios I'd previously visited.

The walls are littered with concept art and posters everywhere we went, which made for significant distractions as we were being shown around. Eventually Janeen introduced us to Steve Fawkner, CEO and Lead Designer of Infinite Interactive, and along with Oracle the 4 of us sat downstairs for a chat.

Reminds me of our fridge door when I was a kid

Of all the studios I have visited so far, Infinite Interactive is now by far the high water mark in regards to their approach to game design and development. Consider the fact that almost all of their successful games are based around their own intellectual property (with the exception of their latest, NeoPets). Or that it's mandatory for all staff to sit around playing their own games Friday afternoons. Or that in the 20 years they've been operating, they've only ever had 3 people leave.

We were told they will be moving studios very shortly, to accommodate the extra staff they plan to take on for new projects. Not too many staff though - they have a vision for a studio of a certain size, and no bigger.

Some of the Infininte Interactive staff hard at work ... playing Puzzle Quest!

Of course, after the success of Puzzle Quest, Infinite Interactive now have their work cut out for them with a follow up. They're currently working on multiple projects - NeoPets (their first licensed title), Deathbringer (may or may not be set in the Warlords universe), Office Wars (the Good Game game), and what could be considered the spiritual successor to Puzzle Quest - Galactrix.

In typical Melbourne fashion, as we left the studio the weather had completely turned on us, an interesting situation considering my perception of this small under-the-radar studio had also been turned on its head.

Frankly, I can't wait to get addicted to their next game.