GDC: Introversion admits publisher aspirations, talks Subversion

Indie favourite Introversion – developer of classics Uplink, Darwinia, Defcon and the upcoming Subversion – has hinted that the company’s future may see a publishing role develop.

"There are games out there we could have taken and published," said commercial director Mark Arundel, talking to videogaming247 in San Francisco yesterday, ahead of this week's GDC. "Half the team is publishing, so we end up with people being idle. To keep those staff you have to do something."

"I see so many games out there messed up with schoolboy errors," Arundel added. "It makes me furious."

Arundel explained that indie game developers were blowing their chances to access big time opportunities by not being handled correctly.

"With our contacts and our understanding we could certainly do something useful," he said.

Arundel and creative director Chris Delay outlined a possible future where their publishing and distribution architecture could handle games other than those produced by the tiny company. Arundel also envisioned two development teams within the firm.

The company is currently putting the finishing touches to its multiplayer version of cult RTS title Darwinia, as well as shaping the new experimental project, Subversion, an as yet enigmatic game both to the public and the people working on it.

"It's true: we actually don't know where this will go,” said Daley, referring to repeated public statements about the vagueness of Subversion, which is based around Delay's experiments in procedural graphics.

"The game will happen when Chris has done enough," said Arundel. "Or when I tell him to stop."