Folks who follow my activity on social media may have
noticed the frequency of my updates have slowed down to a halt in recent months. Nothing
bad happened. I’m still alive. And, I’m still making games. So, what did happen?
It finally occurred to me that being so active on social
media might be having a negative effect on my perspective of games, the
community, my work, and my overall mindset. So, I tested my suspicion by taking
a break from Twitter. My desire to check my mentions and timeline was still
very strong, but I resisted the temptation to see what my thought process would
be like on the other side.
To cut a long story short, I feel like I made the right
choice. I prefer being somewhat isolated from the noise of the industry. That
is not to say I don’t miss it. I do miss it. What I really miss is the
wonderful people who would send me incredibly kind and supportive messages. Who
doesn’t like to hear that, right? Being able to say thank you directly to the brave,
beautiful, and kind people on Twitter is one of the amazing qualities of
Twitter. Unfortunately, this comes with a negative flip side that I expect most
people have also experienced on social media.
It’s more than that, though. Being fed the very latest beat
on the pulse of the industry every five minutes of every hour of every day is
not necessary and can be detrimental to the creative process. At least, to my creative
process. I love videogames. I love playing them. I love making them. I probably
love making games more than playing them, and I really love playing them! I
have been making games for nearly three decades, and I remember the time before
social media. Sometimes, too much information can be a problem – at least when
it comes to creativity. Something in the vein of “too many cooks in the kitchen”
mixed with “keeping up with the Jones” will maybe help explain how I feel social
media has negatively affected my perspective on development.
Moving forward into 2019 I don’t have big plans for using
social media much. Using Twitter has made me lazy with PR and getting the word
out about my games, which is an area I need to be putting more effort into –
not less! The data that I have accrued since starting to use Twitter in 2010 suggests
that using it as a mouthpiece has not done as much as one would hope in getting
the word out to existing fans of our work, much less outside of that core audience.
As people’s timelines move by so fast, you’re relying on your followers being
active on Twitter and you’re also relying on their retweets. It is all too reliant
on luck, in my opinion. And that is too risky when one is trying to run a
successful business. I’ll put my faith in other methods to get the word out
about my games in future.
Anyway – onto 2019!
Chicken Wiggle Workshop is looking fantastic! Michael’s
new artwork for the game is amazing, and the new music that Perry and Grant
have created for the updated soundtrack is incredible. Playing the game now
feels like a new experience. It’s so exciting. And that’s not all we have planned
for the game! This is why development is taking longer than originally
estimated. I want the Switch release of Chicken Wiggle Workshop to be nothing
short of perfect. And it will be! More news on what new goodies we’re adding to
the game soon! I think you’ll agree that it was worth the wait when that
magical day is finally here. Thank you for your patience.
Treasurenauts is making progress – slow, but steady. Even
though I am not sure if we’ll have the game finished for release in 2019, I am
confident that we will make great progress this year. When this game is
eventually ready for release, it will be fabulous. I have no doubt.
Other things in store for 2019 is at least one physical
Switch release and one new little gem of a game. More news on all that when I have
firm details to share. Oh, and on that note, I will be sending out press releases
in the foreseeable future for all Atooi news announcements.
Thanks for reading.
Jools Watsham
Founder, Designer, Artist - Atooi LLC
