Sonic the Hedgehog may be Sega’s iconic mascot, but the publisher has recently revealed that it’s seeing tremendous success with PC strategy game releases such as Total War: Warhammer, developed by The Creative Assembly. That success is bound to grow even further, given the enthusiastic response to Relic Entertainment’s Dawn of War III, an upcoming strategy game that takes place in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Both developers of these critically acclaimed strategy games are owned by Sega, and the investment is paying off.

Sega expanded its roster of strategy game developers with the recent acquisition of Amplitude Studios, based in Paris, France. The developer is known and respected for its breakout science fiction strategy game, Endless Space, which launched in 2012. Since then, the Endless franchise has grown to include the fantasy-inspired Endless Legend and the roguelike defense game Dungeon of the Endless. The developers are currently hard at work on Endless Space 2 using its Games2Gether platform to engage with players during the development process by allowing fans to make design suggestions and vote on features. The sequel, which is expected to release next year, is being promoted with an “Amplified Reality” experience, where pressing the keyboard’s space bar flips the game trailer to an alternate video that runs concurrently and shows everything through a computerized sensor.

Romain de Waubert de Genlis, creative director and COO of Amplitude Studios, spoke with [a]listdaily about becoming part of the Sega family, how the publisher fits with growing the Endless franchise, and how the relationship could lead to endless opportunity.

Romain de WaubertHow did the deal with Sega come together?

It all started when some very big companies started contacting us about a year ago, very bluntly talking about acquisition. To be honest, it was not something we were considering at the time. But after the third company approached us with very convincing arguments, we decided to sit down and think about it seriously. That’s when we had some very interesting first conversations with Sega.

As our games were getting more and more expensive to create, due to increased production values, we obviously needed to generate more sales to cover the cost. So we decided we had to get more people to know about us, to increase our player base, and therefore our revenue.

But we came to the realization that this was not who we were. First and foremost, we are game creators—a creativity-driven, and not a business-driven, company. So we needed to find a company that would let us focus on game creation.

We looked a bit at publishing deals and realized that at best, we would have found a partner who would have created an economic dependence between us, taken full control of marketing and our community, and potentially killed us a few years down the road. We decided to pass on such opportunities.

If we wanted to keep growing our ambitions, we figured that joining forces with a bigger company was, therefore, the only way to go, and Sega was by far the most attractive company to join. It has a great history, brands we are immensely fond of, and a development vision very much in line with our own.

What impressed you most about Sega’s marketing approach?

The most interesting thing about them is how the studios lead not just their production, but also their marketing and PR worldwide, with the headquarters organized as a support company. Therefore, we were allowed to keep working with the same level of agility and control as before, but with the muscle of an international publisher behind us.

What does the deal with Sega enable Amplitude to do that it couldn’t before?

Play Dawn of War III and all Total War games before everyone else! Just for that, it was worth it!

More seriously, we now have the right partnership to expand in some territories where we had a lot of potential but lacked reach. We can also look at safely growing our team, as we had always wanted, to reach around a hundred developers three years from now while attracting top talent who would be reassured by Sega’s solid reputation.

In term of PR, we can already see quite a difference, where being part of the Sega family definitely opens many new doors!

Endless Space 2 - Battle - Sophon vs Cravers

How do the Amplitude and Sega brands complement each other?

Looking at Sega’s already strong position in the strategy segment, with quite a few amazing brands like Dawn of War, Company of Heroes and Total War, it is flattering to believe we could reinforce their lineup.

Yet it looks like with our turn-based 4X games, Endless Legend and Endless Space, and our roguelike Dungeon of the Endless, we’ll bring a new set of game development experiences backed by a strong community. I hope that the Endless Universe will find a great new home within Sega to thrive and explore new possibilities!

How have fans responded to the news so far?

Globally, it has been very positive, as many understand that having Sega backing us means a bright future for our games. They bought Creative Assembly twelve years ago—and it is thriving—Relic four years ago, and now we are all drooling in front of Dawn of War III. I can’t wait to see what Amplitude will become in 10 years thanks to them.

Some fans were concerned by what people assume is Sega’s DLC policy. We are still trying to understand what it means for our players. Overall, as we are very pro-DLC, we want to make sure it is seen as added value to our games.

Endless Space 2 - Academy

Does this deal impact the development and release of Endless Space 2?

Sega has been great. All we have been told so far was: “Guys, there is no rush, quality first, ship it when you feel it is ready, and definitely not earlier to please us.” We were surprised, but that felt good to hear. So we could say that we took a bit more time, for some extra polish.

Amplitude has stated that the PC strategy game market has become a very crowded place. What do you think it is about the Endless franchise that helps it stand out from the rest?

The Endless series shows that you can make a game in what is believed to be a very niche, yet respected, genre, and bring it to a bigger audience.

Our recipe? Attention to details: visuals by Corinne Billon (art director at Amplitude) and our amazing artists; music by FlybyNo; interface worked on by Mathieu Girard (CEO of Amplitude) and his team from the first day to the last day; story written and polished by Jeff Spock (narrative director at Amplitude) and his team of writers, and finally a game design improved, tweaked, tuned and balanced in collaboration with our amazing community through the Games2Gether platform.

There is never an area of the game [development] where we believe we can rest on our laurels, or that it’s already good enough. We polish it, and then polish it some more until we love it. Only then do we move on.