Well, it’s been quite a rollercoaster for us at Roll7 over the last few months!
Our submission process last year was pretty hardcore, with many a pizza-stained late night at our Deptford HQ, London. The team was pretty much broken by the time OlliOlli came out. We had broken down everything that was ‘wrong’ about the game to such an extent that we had managed to successfully convince ourselves that the game would most likely be a flop, a mediocre launch at best…
What we were met with on the 21st and 22nd of January this year genuinely knocked us sideways. There was media frenzy for days, amazing review scores and most of all gamers, real people (not testers or our friends) were playing the game and enjoying it.
There were numerous late-night emotional drinking sessions in central London as we essentially came to the realisation that we were a ‘proper’ studio with a hit game – it has still not properly sunk in for most of us!
The BIG moment was almost fate-like. We were out doing a belated wrap party on the project at our local in New Cross and at about 10pm (after many rounds of tequila) we found out via Twitter that we had won the GameSpot Game of the Month for January. Let’s just say that there were a few teary eyes by midnight — it was a career highlight, and an evening none of us will ever forget.
We met with Shahid and Spencer who run the strategic content team at SCEE, and they recommended that we get the game onto PS4 and PS3 – so that’s what we are doing! We have partnered with BlitWorks, who are based in Barcelona, Spain. We already have a first playable version up and running on PS4 and a big screen — it’s like our little OlliOlli grew up and got some balls! Really feels amazing on DualShock, too.
Such exciting news deserves a big manly jump on a hill…
OlliOlli will remain a PS Vita exclusive until summer 2014, and Roll7 is very close to fixing the crash bug that some players are experiencing. When that patch is released, we’ll bundle in a nice little update that should put a smile on people’s faces.
If you are UK-based, and you fancy getting your hands on OlliOlli and having a chat with us, you can find us at Rezzed, Birmingham (March 28th – 30th).
Check out our OlliOlli Development Video to get more of an insight into Roll7 studio life, and follow us on Twitter for all the latest. Keep it Indie, and keep it Sony in 2014!
Can’t wait for the update and patch on Vita!
Awesome! I’m coming to Rezzed on sunday so I hope i’ll meet you there!
I imagine you’re probably not announcing more details right now, but if I own the Vita version, will I already own the PS4/PS3 versions or do I need to buy again? And will the saves transfer over?
Congratulations on all your success! Super fun game. Made me late for work a couple times, haha.
@3, I wouldn’t bet on it since technically it is being handled by another studio, BlitWorks, so PS4 and PS3 could be cross buy but i doubt vita would be included in that
Cross-buy please please! I had a great time playing this on the Vita… unlocked Rad Mode and managed to complete the first level, but don’t think I have the skills to get that last trophy. ;) Congrats on the success.
great, i have asked for this on ps3. will get it day one. nice
Make it cross buy and i’ll give you my money.
O boy another indie game for ps4 just what we need . ps4 = indie only games so far !!!
PS Vita and PS4 are about tied in numbers.
PS4 owners own a Vita 1/3 of the time.
PS3 numbers are over a factor of 10 more than the other 2 possibly combined.
So if they do cross-buy there will be plenty of people to buy the game anew. If they don’t do Cross-Buy they risk alienating those who bought the game already, those who don’t know which to buy, and those who love the game and would be using the Share functionality on the PS4, but they aren’t buying it multiple times.
They probably only sold half a million copies on the Vita. Maybe all the way up to 1 mil or 2. Doubtfully more than that. It’s not a good idea to risk possibly a million sales just to try and get half a million to double dip.
If they do cross-buy they get hype and good will that will only help promote the game. If someone’s on the fence, getting 1 version for 1 purchase might persuade them to not buy it at all.
Glad to hear about the patch. I really enjoy the game but get frustrated when I start really getting into it and it crashes.
Will it be crossbuy vita/ps4 like devolver is doing? I sure hope so…
I love this game on my Vita. I’m looking forward to the crash-bug fix, since that seems to happen to me with some regularity. I love the idea of playing on my PS4 because I feel like I could improve some of my scores using a DS4. Using the left bumper to pull off certain moves while using the left analog stick to hold my grind is tough task for my giant gorilla mitts.
It’s interesting to read some of the comments about Cross-Buy. Since I own the Vita version, I’d love it to be Cross-Buy with the PS4. Of course, if the game is Cross-Buy between Vita and PS4, the developers don’t make any more money off me. On the other hand, if it is not Cross-Buy I doubt I would repurchase the game for PS4, especially if it means starting my progress over. I’m interested to see what decision the devs make.
Great game Roll7!
crossbuy for ps4 and vita for $10 bucks and you would make a killing. otherwise it’s a pass, as i fully expect a half off or better sale in the next 4-6 months and then a potential inclusion in ps+ within 6 – 18 months.
There are far too many games and shows and movies competing for our free time. I shouldn’t have to pay $15 dollars for a vita game with simple pixel art graphics. I appreciate that you put a lot of work into the game, but from a business standpoint, if your trying to attract more than the core skateboarder crowd you should think about being more enticing.
the game breaking bug you mentioned doesn’t instill me with the urge to buy either.
Ha cool pic that one of PS4…but I’m interested in the PS3 version…didn’t buy the Vita version yet so I may get it for PS3 before.
Oh man was I hooked on this game…
I stuck it through and got 100% of the trophies in just under 10 days :) Awesome game you guys made here Roll7!
Im probably the only person who is going to complain about graphics but oh well..i have yet to play the game..so im assuming that the graphics dont make such a big diffrence.Although to me graphics are 50% of what draws me into a game. The gamplay is the other half obviosly. But again..IF this game had better graphics and customization i would be all over it like i was on the last Tony Hawk game
@16 this is not comparable to a tony hawk game. this is a game with the soul of an old school arcade game, with modern and inventive game mechanics. its made by a very small group of indie developers and was originally suppose to be for smartphones. the graphics are beautiful in their own simplicity. but ofcourse being someone who grew up on 16-bit graphics, this hits home deep in my gamer heart. its a brilliant game. congrats roll7, cant wait to see what you guys put out next.
@9 “They probably only sold half a million copies on the Vita. Maybe all the way up to 1 mil or 2.”
Haha, those numbers are totally insane. Journey might not even have those numbers and it’s probably the biggest indie exclusive.
Awesome game. I really hope this ends up being a cross-buy title. It’s a great fit on Vita but I would love to give it a go with my DS4 on the big screen as well.
I really need to get back into this game. I played it for about 30 minutes and then got sucked into other games and haven’t returned.
I liked what I played though! It is indeed an enjoyable game.
Oh goodness I hope the systems can handle this game. . .
The consoles can handle it… but maybe YOU can’t!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
hhhh
I still haven’t played this game and need to get it ASAP. I hope this will be a cross-buy.
Please be cross-buy. Please be cross-buy. Please be cross-buy.
OlliOlli Rolling, I might make sure that I will get this game. Question, is this part an online game?