In May of 2006, Chris Pfeiffer and Maxim Garber founded Balanced Worlds in Beijing. While their company is still small compared to others, it is incredibly nimble, and together they are riding out the forefront of digital gaming technology with their 3D social videogames. It was no easy task, but Jennifer Thomé caught up with Pfeiffer on his way back from the E3 gaming conference to learn more about the future of digital gaming, and how they keep their creative juices flowing.

What brought you to Beijing?

Back in 2005, Max and I were working together at Insomniac Games in Burbank, California. We were mid-production on a game called Resistance: Fall of Man for Sony and needed one last break before pushing to complete the project. A good friend and coworker from Hong Kong suggested we all go to see the Mainland together. Even though Max and I had done a fair amount of travel before, the idea of going to China seemed as adventurous as travelling to the moon. We started reading and got pretty excited about the trip. As it turns out, our HK friend ended up needing to take care of some personal business. So, Max and I set off on our three week trek to Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an, and had a blast. When we first landed, all I could think was ‘WOW!’ The amount of construction and development was astonishing. The energy was amazing; it was like China was evolving right before our eyes! The visceral impact of China’s development was completely intoxicating – China was booming. The impression left from those three weeks stayed with me. The process of developing great games is rooted in being inundated with various mindboggling challenges, and overcoming them, all while pushing forward to reach your vision. And a year later when Max and I started discussing opening our own game studio, for many reasons, it became clear that China was indeed the best place to do it. Our passion for creating games had strong parallels for why we choose to open our video game development studio in China.

What are the major trends you are seeing in gaming?

Balanced Worlds creates socially-connected, online, free-to-play games. In Asia, almost all games are free-to-play and funded by virtual item sales. Virtual items improve in-game characters looks, abilities, make progression faster, or make the play experience more convenient. In the west, this style of monetization has recently been popularized by highly-successful companies such as Zynga. The traditional Western practice of charging USD 30 to USD 60 for a game box sold at retail stores is rapidly losing its market share to online, downloadable games based on the free-to-play business model. Asia’s innovation is currently causing a major disruption in the west. In addition, there was a notion that casual gamers that play games like Plants vs. Zombies, social gamers that like games like Farmville, and ‘gamer’ gamers that like games such as Modern Warfare 3 were all different people. But the data shows that most people will play games in all three categories. Now, game developers are beginning to design new games that effectively combine the best design elements from all three styles of gameplay. The result will be richer, more engaging, experiences.

What’s it like working with a mostly Chinese creative team?

After eating lunch each day, everyone at BW plays online games together. It turns out that our staff, local and foreign, like playing the same types of games. And, that common ground provides a good starting point for the creative process. Over the last four and a half years, we have been evolving our feedback and production processes to best suit our cross-cultural multilingual work environment. As a company making original games, we ultimately depend on everyone’s creativity to make our products great. And the reality is that our overall creative output surpasses that of most western game studios. Here’s one example. Our team’s feedback is used to iterate and improve our game. Each time we play our game as a team, every player reports what they liked most about the play session and what aspects of the experience need immediate improvement. Everyone on the team has an equal voice. Our newest employees often have great out-of-the-box ideas that instantly help us improve our game. We benefit greatly from our staff’s diverse backgrounds.

Is there a global convergence in video gaming trends?

In many ways, yes there is a convergence. Ideas from the east and west are blending and the art form of making games is ever evolving. Free-to-play is rapidly becoming the dominant monetization model worldwide. Facebook games almost solely rely on virtual item sales. Players and game developers are influenced by the games that they play. Chinese companies such as Happy Elements are very successful on Facebook. Beijing-headquartered Perfect World’s Torch Light sold well in the USA. World of Warcraft, made in the USA, is doing great in China. And Tencent’s Crossfire represents a blend of Counterstrike-like gameplay, from the west, with the successful integration of the free-to-play monetization model. Tencent recently purchased Riot Games out of Santa Monica, California because of their globally successful game called League of Legends. Even more powerful than the sharing of ideas from each other, the companies that make games are consolidating to include studios all around the globe. At the same time, every culture has local tastes when it comes to the theme of a game. As an example, it is safe to say that games based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms storyline are very popular in Asia, yet played a lot less in the USA.

What are your favorite places around town?

I really enjoy going to Chifan for Charity events. It is a great way to try new restaurants, meet a ton of interesting people, and help meaningful charities. Beijing has a lot of places to explore. Recently, I discovered the Orchid Hotel & Bar near Nanluogu Xiang. Their wine selection is quite good and I like the hutong atmosphere. Speaking of which, Atmosphere is my favorite place for a Sunday drink. Going there just after dusk ensures a window side table with a beautiful view.

Chifan for Charity chifanforcharity.org Orchid Hotel and Bar Daily 7am-midnight. 65 Baochao Hutong, Dongcheng District (8404 481) 东城区宝钞胡同65号 Atmosphere Bar Mon-Fri noon-2am, Sat and Sun noon-4am. 80/F, China World Summit Wing, 1 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District (6505 2299 ext 6433) 朝阳区建国门外大 街1号北京国贸大酒店80层