We’ve finally done it! It’s been a bit of journey but we’re finally in beta for our very first game Newton’s Law. What started as an innocent Game Jam game, turned into starting our own game company, and preparing for the release of our first title. But, who are we? Justwo game developers (and our cat Gaultier) trying to build our dream.
Justwo Games was founded by Joelle Douglas and myself, Andrew McArthur, a couple from Auckland, New Zealand. Although we both had very different upbringings, we still managed to regularly find ourselves glued to our chairs, staring at a TV or computer screen and be completely immersed in worlds filled with gigantic creatures, epic adventures, and badass plumbers saving princesses who have a tendency to be stolen on one too many occasions. Games didn’t just provide us with endless hours of fun, but also influenced who we are today. Deciding to develop games for a living was a no brainer.
New Zealand was very late to the game development scene. But with our film and special effects industries getting world class attention (LOTR and The Hobbit Trilogies and Weta Workshop), the media industry grew and attracted a few international game studios and game developers to settle down here in kiwi-land for the local talent. In time, education providers began to introduce courses to attend to the demand of this growing industry. Both Joelle and I attended Media Design School and enrolled into their Game Development course (in different years) and upon graduating, we both managed to land a job at Gameloft here in Auckland.
A couple years down the track, we encountered the Indies VS Pewdiepie Game Jam event and decided to take the 72 hour challenge. The event was demanding to say the least, especially with this being our first Game Jam. We found ourselves working very long hours, desks covered in empty coffee cups, but still having loads of fun! It quickly became apparent that working together and creating our own ideas was an amazing feeling and these 72 hours became a crucial moment where we realized where we wanted to be in the future – working on our own games fulltime.
Seeing people play Newton’s Law (Game Jam Edition) and enjoying something we created, reminded us why we wanted to be in the games industry. We want to make games that affect others the way they do for ourselves. Whether it’s purely entertainment, exploring ideas or learning something new, we hope our games make an impact.
We’d like to say a HUGE thank you to our family and friends who have helped and supported us over the years. The amounts of support and kind words have been incredibly appreciated. I’d also like to thank you (Yep, you!). As a coder by profession, writing blogs or anything similar, is a new challenge for me. So thank you for taking the time to read through and for having an interest in us.
Our goal is to be as open as possible for those who find interest in following us. We hope, through documenting our growth in this blog, both as a company and personally, other new independent game developers (or anyone for that matter!) may find something worthwhile in our progress. You can find us documenting our journey here and on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Cheers!