 Apple that I am not making a boom value. I hereby dedicate myself to the fact that Masquerada will never ever be on iPad. Are we saying that? Let's just say that Apple doesn't want me to say anything right now. So the fact that you don't... The fact that you still listen to Apple means something. Anyway, hopefully we'll have a fun and interesting discussion. Simon, not there. I thought you'd run away already. Thank you so much both of you for coming. Hopefully everyone will have a fun time. Right, so first and foremost, hi, I'm Ian. I'm from Wichitao Studios as introduced. First and foremost, I did not pick this title. Secondly, I did not know I was speaking. So if any of you wonder why this is under-researched, under everything, I apologize. Basically, Alan goes, Ian you're talking. Like, sure, fine. And this is your topic. Sure, fine. Thank you, Alan. So first and foremost, let me give you a brief idea of what we're trying to do so that whatever I talk about has context. Let's see where I can start this. The previous titles were mobile. To be very honest, when we first started, we had always wanted to make something bigger. But we knew that we did not have the experience. We did not have the know-how and we did not know anybody. So when we first started out, I can honestly tell you that I have no background in games before starting Wichitao. So whatever I had, we started it when I was still in school, learning to be a copywriter. So whatever I have very much is pretty much running on the job. I have no prior training. So we made a few mobile games, strategy games, and that allowed us to actually build a team that could work together. They had the same vision, they had the same goals, and by that extent, we are going to create something a lot bigger. And that is a small result of what we're trying to put together. So I'm here to talk about premium games, and I'm talking about it because, well, I can honestly tell you that we have done premium games. We have also done free-to-play games. And that's why I think the point to note is I'm not here to slag free-to-play. If any of you are here to talk, expecting me to say anything bad about it, I'm sorry to disappoint. That is not what I'm here to do. And the reason why I have no intention of doing saying anything like that is because I'm not good at it. And that's something that I think that a lot of premium game makers have an issue with. They talk about it very poorly, like it's not good, it cheats players, it creates horrible hamster wheels and whatnot. The truth of the matter is that unless you are actually very good at it and decide that it's not for you, don't say anything bad about it. It's really that simple. So by that same extent, what I want to talk about is something a little bit more subjective over objective. So I'm not going to give you a bunch of stats to tell you why premium games are better than free-to-play games. Because there is something, doing this, making games like this is a very near emotional response to what we want to do as a team. And that's what I'm here to talk about more. So five reasons why I make premium games. So this is very personal. Please don't go around telling people this is the same reason you do it, if it's not true. So if you listen to Simon and everything he says, there's a lot of pertinence to what I'm going to talk about and the first slide should tell you much. I do not like being a slave to data. What this means is that while data in its raw form is very useful, people use this data to push their own agendas. And this happens very often. So there is a human aspect that comes from design where if I take the data and go like, the players want what I have designed, that creates problems. Because you are making something that is, data becomes a weapon, it becomes a tool within a company to use, to slam against someone else when you want to push your own designs. And I take great issue with that because as far as I'm concerned, what I'm trying to provide a player is an experience. So it's something very emotive. You know, be it a sense of grandeur because you're doing something big, is it a sense of sadness because they have lost something? Is it a sense of unhappiness because the bad guy is doing something terrible? But if people are going, but when you are designing in a group, when you're working with a lot of people and someone uses data to go, that's a bad idea, you know, the data doesn't prove that that's going to be right. What happens is that you tend to make choices that are safer for what your data is from what person's data is trying to save. As far as I'm concerned, I'm more interested in trying something new and something different. And chances are, what I do might fail. That is a very big part of making a premium game because it's like a movie. You don't know how well it's going to do absolutely until you put it out there. So by that same extent, I don't want to, you know, make something that I know is going to be safe but I'm not trying something new and interesting and fun. That essence of failure, I guess, also adds to the design process because you want to push the boundaries of what you're capable of. So data is a weapon. It can be used very poorly with the wrong crowd. So this is why I don't really like making free-to-play games. That's personal. The next thing is that I'd rather use my budget on making the game than buying users. So Simon covers a lot about, you know, paying for users and how ridiculously expensive it is. As far as I'm concerned, when I'm making a premium game, this is not a primary concern for me. I can take that money, hire two, three more good people with the same vision, the same intention, make something great. So as far as when you're working in a team, you've got to think about how you want to use your budget and as far as I'm concerned, buying users is not the right way to go. And more often than not, with free-to-play games now, buying users is nearly a necessity to survive. And that tells me that it's a little bit wonky as far as I'm concerned as a system. The next big thing is that I like commitment. When you play a free-to-play game, every time your user is playing that game, it is a renegotiation of your relationship with that user. It's imagine sitting down with your girlfriend or boyfriend at every dinner and they change what they want from you. Yes, I'm looking at certain people. Right, so what happens, you know, it's like, when I sit down, when I sit down for dinner with your girlfriend, she suddenly goes, you know, you buy her back. The next time you sit down, you know, I think we should go on holiday for somewhere else. And at every turn, right, you know, they're going to want more and that's the sense of entitlement that you have to manage. I'm sorry, I'm very lazy. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not interested in that. And there's also a matter of commitment. When someone pays for your game, they know that they don't want to squeeze every dollar they have spent on your game. They are going to play it. I liken free-to-play and premium games very much like how a free-to-play game is like YouTube. You spend two to three minutes, there is no commitment. Every time you watch something, it's different. It's new. That's fine. A premium game functions more like an episode of Game of Thrones. You are going to commit an hour to sit there and watch that show. You're going to feel everything that director and that writer wants you to feel. And that is what a premium game can do because that is a choice that you're making. And that's the kind of games you want to make where people are going to make that choice that they are going to give us their time. Versus half the time, I'm trying to juggle different things to make you come back every time. I'm not that desperate. As far as I'm concerned, let's make the relationship simple. Let me make something good. Please enjoy something good. That's all I'm looking for. The next thing I want to talk about is I want to tell stories and I want to build worlds. And I don't necessarily have to do that myself. We have a full-time writer who does that. So I have no illusions or grandeur that I'm right as far as I'm concerned. But I want to create something bigger, something better. But at the same extent, in Dragon Age Inquisition, if any of you have played it before, there is a moment where your home base gets destroyed. You are driven out of it. Your men are scattered. You find a camp in the future, a little bit past, you know, in the snow, and they've all kind of gathered together. Hope is lost. What are you going to do? The one beacon that held everything together is lost, that one place. And then a song is sung. A hymn, something familiar to everybody in the camp. And they rally. And they're ready to you as a player. They turn to you for direction. They turn to you to be saved. Creating things like that, little things like that. That's what I'm interested in doing. And I find that it's something that I cannot do in a free-to-play game. That is not what a free-to-play user wants. Therefore, I need to find my audience. And I will take a niche audience any day that gives me the opportunity to create things like this. And another thing about making a premium game is that it can last ages. We see today with Baldis Gate creating new content for a ridiculously old system. Why does that still work? Because people want to be engaged in that way. So as far as I'm concerned, I don't need 70 million users. I just need 1 million that loves what I do. That will come back every time I do it. And it is a contract that I will provide them with that experience every time. And my last reason is very simple. I'm stupid. To make this choice to want to do something like this takes a level of stupidity, a level of naivety and a level of trust that I can proudly say that I have. Because in the five years we've been around I have a team that I absolutely trust. I know that with my eyes closed they will walk through five of me and we will make good things. And to me, that is also the essence of what a premium game can do. It is a unity and a shared vision of creating something new, something big and the opportunity to do that with people that you care very much about. So if you notice I am not giving you any data. I am not giving you any logical reason why you should make a premium game. Because in this day and age it is very hard to justify. So I will not bother what I will say is that this is what I want to do and I have the right team to do it with and therefore I do it. So if you want to engage and start doing a premium game make sure that you can surround yourself with the right people because there will be naysayers. Five years every year without fail why aren't you making angry birds? Why aren't you making any crush? Because that is where the market is going. We are not turning against the market because it is a good idea we are turning against it because we want to. It is a decision that we have to make. So as far as I am concerned when it comes to be free to play or premium do what you want to do and also be good at it because we have tried free to play. We have fallen into many of the fallacies that Simon talked about because we didn't know any better. But we also understood that even if we did the right things because we actually looked at the data looked at what we wanted to do and we decided as a team that there is not something we would like to do anyway. So why do something you don't like rather than do something you love if you have the opportunity to? As far as I am concerned it is a very emotive reason towards why I am doing what I am doing. I hope that when you all made this decision whether you are starting a company or starting a team whether you are working for a company understand what a company wants to do and make sure that aligns with your own vision as well. That is all I have to say about premium games. Thank you. For the record we are not hiring but if you guys want to talk to myself or Brian my co-founder we are going to be over there. If that is the case then I am guessing that yes the clapping brought you guys back right? I can talk to you. No. Simon has more content right? Okay. So...