One of the best-known computer games in the world comes from Amsterdam. Killzone 2 has sold millions of copies and it was made by Guerrilla Games. The Netherlands' cartoon and animation industry focuses primarily on short films but one of the world's largest games' studios is located in the heart of Amsterdam's historic canal district.
Scene: An abandoned warehouse; a huge cockroach scuttles out of the way. And then suddenly bullets whizz past you. Run, turn, shoot. Occasionally you see a dead soldier lying on the ground. Out of nowhere, a dangerous aircraft shoots through the air. The action is extremely fast and if you're too slow...
Millions of people all over the world do it: they play Killzone 2. When it was released a year ago, it was major news. Or at least it was major news in the gaming world. However, the animation industry also looked at it with interest. Developers worked for years on this game, which was specially developed for the new PlayStation3.
Started from scratch
Jan Bart van Beek, Guerrilla Games' animation and art director: "We had to start from scratch, every detail including buildings, cars, the landscape, the plants, everything. It's a lot of fun, but you need a lot of people. You also need real artists, the ones that work with pencil and paper but then digital pencils and paper."
Video - motion capture filming used to make Killzone 2:
The company was created by a fusion of a couple of Amsterdam games studios and is now owned by Japan's Sony Corporation. Jan Bart van Beek continues:
"Killzone 2 takes place on an alien planet in a futuristic setting. It's a renegade Earth colony and a war is raging. Personally, it's really important to us to make something that we think is attractive. But it's also important to the people playing at home. It is not just about shooting people, it's also about exploring another world. When you walk through the game, you also enjoy the details: the lighting, the whole atmosphere. It was extremely complex to create. We needed people from all sorts of disciplines: artists, animators, programmers of course, as well as designers, writers, musicians and even actors. Producing the game was just like producing a major film."
Labour-intensive
Guerrilla Games is located in a 17th century merchant’s house on the Herengracht canal in Amsterdam.
“About 140 people work here and there are another 20 or 30 working for us outside this building,” explains Commercial Director Hermen Hulst.
“Designing a game not only requires artistic designers but also computer programmers. They need to code the game so that it performs well on all the leading games consoles. Apart from successive generations of Sony PlayStations, that also means other company’s consoles like the Wii, Microsoft’s Xbox and the Nintendo DS. And then for one or more players, mobile or via internet, it’s hard to keep up with all the developments.”
Dutch government supportive
The Dutch government regards the country’s creative industry as fulfilling an important role. Fashion, architecture and design are all receiving a great deal of international attention. Guerrilla Games’ animation artists can also be seen as part of the creative industry. The Amsterdam company’s competitors are mostly located near Hollywood and in Japan. Isn’t Amsterdam rather far away from the big studios and from parent company Sony?
Hermen Hulst: “I can’t see us leaving the Netherlands just yet. Of course there are more freelancers in London or California. There are special motion-capture studios and support services. But our company’s core team lives here. And foreigners love coming to Amsterdam. The main drawback is we have to travel a lot, but the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.”
Photos and videos: All copyright Guerrilla Games
RNW translation (im)
Email this Article
Printer-friendly version
Post new comment
Please be reminded all comments must be in English, short and to the point - guideline 250 words. Abusive and inappropriate comments will be removed.