As the year approaches its end, Jan Klose, co-founder and managing director at Deck13, joins us to discuss how 2021 treated the studio.
Jan Klose, Deck13 co-founder and managing director
What have you been up to at Deck13 in 2021?
Last year, we were acquired by Focus Entertainment while in the midst of developing a big new project. At the time, we were still coping with the effects of the pandemic and work from home, so we have been pretty much focused on ourselves during the year 2021. Our biggest initiative, in my eyes, was to empower more people in the team, encouraging them to take on roles as leaders, and generally making way for personal growth, sometimes in disfavor of those who were with us for a long time but had to rethink their roles. I hope that in the end we achieved a new and better climate for our teammates.
What development or trend that you saw in 2021 do you consider critical for your niche?
I feel that the continuous growth of the Indie market and the variety of games and ideas that comes with it is a very good thing for the industry. For us as a studio it’s great to see that double-A games aren’t considered inferior to big AAA titles anymore, because this (broad) niche doesn’t mean less quality but more focus on things certain players love.
As a company, what are you going to strategically focus on in 2022?
We’ll continue to grow our team, get our new project into a great shape and steer towards a strong release.
What third-party titles were you personally excited about as a gamer?
I was utterly impressed by the technical feat and beauty of Microsoft Flight Simulator but nostalgia won and so in the end I was most excited about Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection. I did play the original when I was a kid.