In case you missed it, Arrowhead Studios made waves with the release of Magicka a few weeks back, when the game unexpectedly shot up to the number one spot on Steam’s sales rankings for a few days. The best thing about this success story, is that it showed that games can still get by on ingenuity and originality despite having limited marketing budgets. 

We loved Magicka, so be sure tocheck out our full review.

We were fortunate enough to get some time with Arrowhead Studios’ PR manager Patrik Lasota, who spoke to us a little bit about Magicka as well as some of the challenges currently facing PC gaming. 

Well, I never thought about it. Gaming is pretty international, so I guess in a way I expected there to be gamers interested in Magicka there as well.

Do you guys develop exclusively for PC. If so why, and will this change at any point?

We actually do not develop exclusively for PC, but for now, Magicka is only released for the PC. I think developing for multiplatform is important, you simply cover more ground that way. I have a friend that never bothered buying a powerful PC, he has an XBOX360and he uses that one for all his gaming needs.

Is developing exclusively for PC a viable path for game development today?

Somewhat, yes. Some games just doesn’t do well on a console today. I could never imagine Starcraft on a console, and most RTS attempts at consoles have had very little success.

Magicka was a critical and commercial success. What were your expectations for the game?

Well, we definitely hoped it would be well received, and I think it went better than expected. We have received huge support from the community and its really awesome to hear the stories people are telling about their Magicka experiences.

Is there a sequel or any DLC in the cards?

We have a number of DLC planned, both paid and free ones. As for a sequel, well that is a bit early to tell.

Just how detrimental to the industry do you think piracy is?

I believe pirating is a problem, primarily for smaller developers that constantly balances on a financial edge. I do however not think that it’s possible to stop pirating by putting month after month of development time into DRM, like some of the bigger companies do. And especially when such DRM affects the quality and playability of the honest caring gamers – which are the ones that are supposed to get all of our love and care.

Magicka offers great value at just $10. In hindsight, do you think it would have been as popular if it had sold at $20?

I think pricing has a lot to do with how well it sold, $10 is the price of a good lunch in town, and not a huge economical decision. I think that we would have sold less, money wise, if we had priced it at $20, but then again, some say they would have paid the double for the game. Its hard to tell really, I’m happy that we chose the pricing we did tough.

Would you consider releasing Magicka on any other platforms?

We would very much like to release it on multiplatform, and we are trying to make this a reality. Today however, I can make no promises for a console release.

Digital distribution has come to dominate PC game sales. Do you think retailers will ever stop carrying physical disks?

I never think that they will disappear completely but they are on their way out. Some still prefer solid disks to digital downloads, and others like the ease of use and easy access that comes with digital distribution.

Magicka was refreshingly easy to install and play with no painful security measures. What are your thoughts on DRM?

No matter how much DRM you put in there, someone will break it eventually. It is a universal law of piracy. The only thing you would achieve with heavy DRM is to scare away legitimate customers.

I’m for example afraid of the DRM in settlers 7 – if it didn’t have it, I would’ve bought the game.

Do you think that larger publishers will begin to ignore PC gaming, while more independent labels such as Paradox will carve out a niche in this sector?

No, the PC market is still a large part of gaming, and the PC is rapidly becoming more and more powerful. It has already far surpassed the consoles in raw performance. To sell as many copies as possible, you simply have to put it on all markets.

What was your favourite game of 2010?

Minecraft, without question. It speaks to the child in me that still wants to play with Lego. I very much look forward to seeing what the continued development of Minecraft will bring.

What gaming platforms do you own, and what are your favourites?

I personally own a PC, SNES, N64 and Gamecube. But the PC is and has always been my favorite.

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