Manchester gaming company putting the power in hands of players with interactive social media

Manchester based Tri-Heart Interactive are an independent gaming company who are breaking down the walls between gamer and developer, and giving the power to those who play.

Rather than simply creating a game and shipping it out, Tri-Heart are using social media to take their players on the journey with them – shaping and moulding their games to suit their audience.

Kieran Rogers, 21, one of the company’s directors said: “A reason people might not buy a game is because they don’t trust you or know who you are, and a big thing for us is to be transparent and to know who our audience is, rather than just assuming.”

Tri-Heart are constantly using the feedback of their player base to mould their current project, The Otterman Empire, into a game that fans feel a firm connection to. The family friendly first person shooter should have all ten characters rolled out by March, each of which has a different personality for players to invest into.

Another way the company get feedback from their players is by hosting monthly ‘Manchester Gamers Unite’ events. Attendees can relax, play games and test the Otterman Empire as it continues to grow.

“One of the directors, Simran Whittam, is one of two who put on the events. For us it has been a good chance to meet the people that we interact with online,” said Kieran.

“Because every month the game is changing and evolving and we like to get that instant feedback, especially when it comes to how the game feels. It’s a little bit like our own playtesting and Q and A session.”

Despite the company still being in its infancy, Tri-Heart Interactive have huge ambitions for The Otterman Empire brand: “We’ve only been a company now for eight months ourselves so it’s very early in the process but now were realising how big and how broad the brand can go. So were currently working on which direction to go regarding toys, TV shows and such,” said Kieran.

Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, who are the company behind the hugely successful ‘Fortnite,’ also offers confidence to independent gaming companies such as Tri-Heart, as he told the BBC: “The experiments of independent games are the most exciting thing happening in the industry right now.”

“At one end of the industry you have these very large teams of hundreds of people making huge scale games that are fairly predictable in their form and their content. But smaller developers, where anywhere between one and 10 people are getting together to build wildly creative games, are having huge success.”

However, the directors understand that it will take time to expand, and are confident that their strategy of keeping the audience fully immersed in what they are working on will see their brand grow successfully.

Kieran added: “In terms of the Otterman Empire, the sky is the limit really. So it’s going to be a phenomenal year, but having said that, it’s all about patience and taking it day by day and understanding that we have time because we are a young studio.”

Follow Tri-Heart Interactive on social media to keep up-to-date with their developments:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/triheartinteractive/

Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/THInteractive/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TriHeartInt