Ex-Zipper Vet Forms Caffeinated Games

Greg Chudecke, former lead tools engineer at SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs developer Zipper Interactive has announced the formation of a new independent game company and social network named Caffeinated Games. The new developer aims to focus on the creation of “AAA games”, while Caffeinated Games Social Network will allow gamers to interact directly with the developers and create a community around each title. The company is expected to announce its first game next week. Chudecke has also previously worked on titles including Backyard Skateboarding for Atari and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring for Black Label Games. "When you read post-mortems about failed indie game companies you often run across a common thread, either the publisher didn't understand the concept or didn't market the game. We at Caffeinated Games recognize publishers have to guess what games people will buy so it is often hard for them to sign off on new ideas,” commented Chudecke. “Also if your game doesn't fit into a specific genera they may have a hard time marketing the game. Our approach to overcome this is to make the games we want to play and then pitch those games directly to the gamers. Cut out the middle man if you will. The gamers after all are the ones who ultimately make your game a success."