Roll7 have signed a publishing deal with 505 Games in order to create a much bigger project than anything they’ve done before. In an interview with MCV, the OlliOlli developers spoke about their new project to confirm a few details.
Since EA basically killed Black Box, the developers that created the Skate series in 2010, you can pretty much count the number of good skateboarding games on one hand. You can use two fingers for OlliOlli 1 & 2, then you can stop because that’s all you’re getting, at least for the time being.
If it’s not OlliOlli 3, what could it be? Well, we know the studio are moving away from their renowned 2D pixel-art style and moving to the Unreal Engine. This unnamed project will be in 3D and just like their previous games, will be coming to PC and consoles. Expect to see this game around 2017.
“The ambition for our new project far outclasses our previous ones,” Roll7 director Simon Bennett said. “We needed a publisher with financial clout and international ties in order to take it forwards. 505 represents a middle ground between top tier triple-A firms and smaller, boutique indie labels who may not have the budget to achieve what we want to do. We’re not looking to do another OlliOlli – this is much bigger.”
Part of the reason 505Games are working with Roll7 is to pay more attention to the UK games development scene.
“In 2015, I injected myself back in to the UK games scene – it opened my eyes to the amount of content in the UK. That led us and Roll7 to the same door,” SVP of marketing Tim Woodley said. “We want to work with people who have a track record of great games – Roll7 has already taken some of that risk away in a very basic prototype. We saw the opportunity to spend a few years with people that we like and trust and who have a great concept.”
Woodley explained this even further: “I’m pretty buoyant about the UK games development scene and see a lot of potential. It’s certainly a sector that 505 will be keeping a close eye on and trying to find some more nuggets as we head into our second decade as a company.”
