Andy Chambers - Part 3

Was Starcraft what brought you over? Is that the project Blizzard hired you for?

No. Originally I came over for Blizzard because I'd heard very good things about their games and they had a lot of respect as being a good place to work. So, no, they just sort of took me on. And then eventually they said, "Oh Starcraft 2 ... you'd be good for that wouldn't you? Oh, yeah, sci-fi, yes." I'd work quite well for that.

So now there's already a Warhammer game out, there's a new one coming ... after being at Games Workshop for so long, is that a strange thing for you or is it interesting to see it move into that arena?

It's interesting to see it move into that. It was always ... there was always some interest around the sides and they've been cutting deals over the years, it's a good IP, so it's good to see it out there in the world. When I was working there it was always something where it was like IP being licensed out to other companies, so there wasn't that much crossover and I was always really intrigued because I was kind of keen on PC games myself, but it was a different matter too, actually being inside the design house right from the get-go.

True. And it's sort of weird because Blizzard does that in reverse — like Fantasy Flight Games develops Blizzard's tabletop games, instead of having those done with an in-house developer. I wonder if they'll ever end up doing that. We tried to play the huge Warcraft board game not too long ago and ...

Yes. (laughs) I'm told it's quite an undertaking.

Yes, even some hardcore World of Warcraft players I was with said, "Eff that." It was just too much. It's huge! But we may try the Adventure game. I've heard it's a lot easier to get into. But still, people love that game. To be fair, it was at the tail end of Blizzcon.

Yes. Yeah. This is why I talk about IP, because increasingly, as we get into the 21st century, there's an understanding that a game isn't just a game, it's an expression of and part of an IP. And soon, bigger companies, or as companies grow, they look at how they can express their IP in numerous places — novels, comics, t-shirts, baseball caps — whatever it happens to be. So yeah, the opportunities ... it's really interesting to see it grow across the board. And, you know, we're interested in doing the same sort of things with our IP too.

The three campaigns that are coming out, I know there's an undetermined gap of time between each one, ostensibly to work on it I guess...

Yes, however long it takes us, basically.

Is each one sort of self-contained, or will the story have open-ended questions that the next campaign will answer?

Hmm, it is very hard for me to say at this point.

Yeah, because you guys probably haven't even started much on the second one.

Well, we know what goes off in the second one. How much you could just pick up that second one and dive right in there and it will all make perfect sense, and it would all play through really well ... if we do our jobs well, then, yeah, that should absolutely be the case. We want them, I want them, to be standalone stories. But to what extent you could actually pick up chapter two out of a three-chapter story, and be able to just read it, play it, on its own, in a vacuum ... I don't know. In an ideal universe, yes, absolutely. But also the fact that the events are going to follow on from the first game means that, again ... well, I suppose if you had any idea what the high points of the first game you'd probably be well set up for the second one anyway.

I just wondered if there'll be some kind of, "Previously in Starcraft 2..." catch-up video.

Well we'll need to do something like that, yeah. Whether its something that's just there at the up-front of the game, or the loader or what have you tells you what the previous story was, or whether its just like, salted away somewhere and like, "Well if you want to find out what happened in the first episode, look here," sort of thing. I don't know. It's something we'll have to give consideration to.