The success of David Frampton's first game, Chopper, allowed him to buy a home in Hawke's Bay and pursue game development full-time. Photo / File
The success of David Frampton's first game, Chopper, allowed him to buy a home in Hawke's Bay and pursue game development full-time. Photo / File
It looks like Hawkes Bay game developer David Frampton has another hit on his hands.
His latest effort, Sapiens - "Create your own prehistoric civilisation and lead your tribe in a world you shape" - hit Steam today and within hours was number two on the giant platform's global saleschart.
When the Herald checked in mid-morning, Steam said there were just under 1700 people currently playing the $27.89 game.
Early reviews are encouraging, with one player, "Lethal Chicken", saying: "The best tribal management game of all time. The controls are intuitive, the music is outstanding, and the gameplay is satisfying." Overall, all 24 reviews so far have been positive - albeit with a few noting the odd teething issue.
"The launch so far is exceeding all my expectations," Frampton told the Herald.
"The signs were good, with tens of thousands of wishlists and good feedback from the demo.
"But the response so far has been incredibly overwhelming. I'm just really stoked that so many people are enjoying the game."
Image / Steam
Frampton worked in TV weather graphics before creating his first game, Chopper, in 2010. The $2.99 game for iPhone and iPad - and its successor Chopper 2 - sold more than 350,000 copies between them, allowing him to quit his job in Wellington, buy a home in Hawke's Bay and pursue game development full-time.
He followed up with Blockheads (2013) before beginning the long development haul for Sapiens.
The local gaming industry is heading to be a $1 billion export earner with powerhouses Grinding Gear Games, RocketWerkz and PikPok now employing hundreds between them.
But while The Big Three are engaged in a fierce war for staff with transtasman and global rivals, Frampton's company, Majic Jungle remains essentially a one-man band (although he did hire a Hawke's Bay local to manage The Blockheads community while he concentrated on finishing off Sapiens, and he commissioned composer John Konsolakis to create the new game's soundtrack).
Image / Majic Jungle
And of course he did a lot of crowdsourced testing.
"But my biggest fear was that it might still miss the mark, especially given I took a lot of risks and diverged from the norm in many ways," Frampton said.
"With the seven-year development cycle, there was a lot at stake.
"Even though I had over 100 volunteer testers during the final two years of development, and knew I'd fixed a lot of the potential issues, I still worried a lot. I think you're always going to have doubts until it's actually out there."
