XS: The studio has grown strongly, what is the objective in terms of growth, headcount?
N.H:: Ideally, at the beginning, we wanted 90, 100 people and I don't think we'll go beyond that. Simply because we want to keep it relatively small and not become a big corporation with hundreds of people. We want the studio to remain intimate, that the games have a "homemade" touch. That was the idea at the beginning and we will continue like this.
XS: When Microsoft acquired it, Guillaume Provost said that Compulsion Games' ambition was to become a leading studio. What does that mean?
N.H: It definitely means scoring players and making better quality games. And Microsoft's support helps us tremendously in that.
Our goal has always been to make games different from others, with human stories, unique worlds. We really want to focus on quality rather than quantity.
XS: Your next project will be a narrative single-player game in third-person view. What is the objective with this game in your evolution?
N.H:: I think we give ourselves some time to learn. This is our first game with Microsoft and we learn a lot. We have doubled the workforce and we are adapting to it. The goal is to expand our crazy universe, to continue to make our mark in video games as a studio that likes to make unique games, in little-used settings. For now, that is our goal. To continue our "legacy",our legacy, while remaining true to ourselves.
XS: How long was it before the new project started.
N.H:: A few months after We Happy Few. There was a lot of brainstorming between a few people, it started in a very light way. It was evolving little by little and more and more people were added to the team and now everyone is on it.
XS: Start of production in early 2019 then?
N.H:: Yes.
XS: Can you be more specific? Where are you in the development of this game? Do you plan to communicate soon?
N.H:: I can't answer too much because you never really know what's going to happen. We are in the middle of development. We are in the middle of "in the juice",hand to paw, on the "hard" stages of the project.
XS: Speaking of We Happy Few, the game was available in Game Preview to refine its proposal and test mechanics. Elements were also removed at that time. Will this also be the case for your next title?
N.H:: No, not at all. The Game Preview with We Happy few was really to test the game with the community because it was a rogue-like, a survival. And since it was our first, we wanted to see if things were well balanced. So we needed feedback from the community.
With our new game, a narrative game, third person, a story, I don't think we need any feedback. It's not like a rogue-like where you replay several times and you need data to make sure the experience is fun.
We Happy Few has evolved a lot, at first it was a rogue-like and then we added a story because people loved the world, the characters, so we said "ok, we're going to make a real game with an end and a story". The next game is a story, we know where we're going.
XS: What does it change for you to be an Xbox studio?
N.H: It changes that we have the means to hire people, we can afford to move into more comfortable studios. It also gives us a lot of resources, for example research.
We will write, do research and there are (at Microsoft) many departments that will help us deepen our studies, our research on people, various elements.
XS: You have a particular accompaniment of Xbox, then?
N.H:: Yes, they have departments that will tell us if the direction we are taking is right or put us in touch with interlocutors who could refine the project and make sure that what we are doing is consistent.
It's also because there are other Microsoft studios we often talk to. We can exchange ideas, ask for advice. There is a whole support system at Microsoft that helps us improve our game. This is something we would not have had as an independent.
XS: How exactly is it with other Xbox Game Studios? What are your interactions?
N.H:: We lend ourselves things, we ask for advice. The teams in each department are quite close. The audio people here talk a lot with the audio people at Coalition, at Rare. And the same for all the other departments in fact.
I would say that we have all our friends in the other studios with whom we can exchange ideas, ask, help. We help ourselves a lot.
XS: With the acquisition of Microsoft, your next game will be integrated into Xbox Game Pass. Does this have an impact on your development?
N.H: No, no negative impact. Positive, yes. We want as many people as ever to be able to access our games.
On We Happy Few for example, at first we were going to release it only on Steam. And little by little, we added it on ID@Xbox and then Playstation at the time. What we really want is for people to be able to play our game. And the fact that it's on Game Pass means that more people will be able to play it.
There is not really a negative side.
The only thing that can negatively impact is when studios make versions on several consoles. For example Xbox One and Series. There are a lot of technical constraints. It is a version of the game that must roll on both even if they do not have the same power.