It’s About Finding the Right Project and Not Getting Burned
Game developer Amy Hennig is an industry veteran who’s been at the forefront of great projects and innovation. In a recent discussion with developer Sean Vanaman of Camp Santo, over at Polygon, she talked about the new hurdles that come with age. It’s not easy being 53-years old and worrying about the next 3-5 year project.
“So I’ve worked on probably 15 games or something like that, over 28 years,” Hennig told Polygon. “Not all of them got published. But now I look at it and go, ‘Well, if a game takes three, four, five years to make, and I’m 53, how many at-bats do I have left?’ And you don’t want to waste those.”
Hennig hasn’t had a full game published since 2011’s Uncharted 3. While she’s kept busy with her brain matter on major IPs, it’s been a while since she’s participated in a full development cycle. And she couldn’t help but express some resentment over the fact.
“I haven’t had something published since 2011, and it’s killing me. I worked on Uncharted 4 for two and a half years, and then I worked on the Star Wars game for three and a half years. A lot of the work, thankfully, lived on in U4, and we’ll see what happens with the Star Wars thing.”
As you may or may not be aware, Hennig is referring to the shutdown of Visceral Games studio by EA. The Star Wars game they were developing shifted hands to EA Vancouver. While her version of the game was essentially scrapped, it remains up in the air just how much will make its way into the final product. But because of the inability to publish a full-blown game, Hennig is, understandably, contemplating her next project carefully.
“But you think, ‘OK, wait a second. It was that easy to burn six years and not publish anything.’ So I look at it and go … ‘how many bullets do I have left in the chamber?’ I want to make sure that I make the right choices.”
Whatever project comes next, we look forward to Hennig’s involvement. Considering the legacy of greatness that survives in her past work, we have little reason to doubt the quality of future titles. But what are your thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment down below.