We had a chat with Anton Prydatko, Studio Head of lowiro Limited. Let’s hear his opinion about his game, story-driven Rhythm game, Arcaea, and the video game industry.
Azfar Rayan: Hello Anton! How about sharing a bit about yourself?
Anton Prydatko: Hi, thank you for the chance to talk! My name is Anton Prydatko (often going by the online handle of ‘Guy’) and I am Studio Lead at lowiro and Director of Arcaea. My background is one of mobile app development, be that just applications or games and this was my starting point before moving on to leading a team. I’m based in the UK but have lived and worked in Japan for a number of years.
Azfar Rayan: When did you start playing games, and how did you get involved with making one?
Anton Prydatko: Like many of us, I played games since a very young age, going back to Pokemon games on the Gameboy Color. As I grew up I always had an interest in programming and making small things here and there, from flash games to pixel art, mobile development was just something that caught my interest early on. I worked on a number of indie games, story-based, and music games and Arcaea was just the next step forward which grew into something much larger.
Azfar Rayan: What motivated you to form lowiro Limited?
Anton Prydatko: Arcaea was initially developed by just myself with the help of a few friends and acquaintances so there was never any real goal to make a ‘game company’, however as what was initially just an indie game grew more over the years in both popularity and scale, this became the starting point of something bigger and more structured, that being ‘lowiro’.
Azfar Rayan: Why Arcaea? What motivated you to make a Rhythm game?
Anton Prydatko: I’ve been a big fan of rhythm games for over a decade, starting from pc games, and online games, through to whatever Arcade games were available in the UK, and finally coming to a peak during my time living in Japan which has a huge arcade music game scene. On my return to the UK I really wanted that constantly-updated arcade rhythm game experience to be accessible to everyone worldwide and this was the niche that Arcaea aimed to fill at its inception.
Azfar Rayan: Did you find it challenging when you started making Arcaea? How did you cope with them?
Anton Prydatko: Game development has a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes you release something and get a great reception which really makes everything worthwhile and motivates you for weeks/months at a time, but other times you grind away at your art for months with nothing to show and doubting if anyone will see or like it.
Constantly updated/live service games are a little more forgiving in that you get a lot of constant releases so that motivation stays high, however outside of that another great way to cope is to just keep playing games, enjoy games and media even if you work on them. Creating is great but don’t forget the feeling and heart of enjoying something, even if it is similar to your work!
Azfar Rayan: Did you find individuals to join your team when you had the idea of making this game, or did you hire people to execute your plans?
Anton Prydatko: When starting Arcaea, the team was extremely small, likely one that you can count on one hand. It was a small indie game project with very little personal funds so a lot of volunteer work was involved, and any paid assets/work had a very little budget. I’m grateful for those that helped in those very early days and almost all of them are still around to this day as part of something bigger and have since gone full-time on the game.
Azfar Rayan: Do you have any mentors or people from your past that helped inspire you to get involved in this project?
Anton Prydatko: Working on Arcaea over the years has been a huge learning experience and one that has mostly been unguided for myself. Rather than having any mentors I’ve mostly found the way forward myself, sometimes asking those around me or the team for their opinions on how to proceed. In that way, I haven’t really taken strong influence from anyone allowing us to have a fairly unique path through updating Arcaea and taking the bold steps that earned it the reputation of being a good game.
I hope that our approach shows that almost anyone can get into the game industry with enough know-how and enthusiasm, without any specific mentors or connections.
Azfar Rayan: Besides the Android launch, do you plan to publish the game on other platforms, such as Steam?
Anton Prydatko: Arcaea has been likewise available on iOS since day one, and a Nintendo Switch version of the game as a more complete, offline experience similarly released in 2021. We don’t have any specific plans for other platforms at the moment, but do listen to our players and fans on what they want to experience the game on, as long as it can provide a good experience through the hardware of that platform.
Azfar Rayan: What are your favorite games?
Anton Prydatko: Aside from the obvious choice of Arcade rhythm games, I have a strong liking for games with a strong story narrative. In the past few years, one that has really stuck with me has been ‘Outer Wilds’. There’s something magical about tying gameplay together with narrative in a unique way and I think that having a, should I say, ‘balanced diet’ of gameplay-first in an arcade style together with a gripping story is a good thing to have.
Azfar Rayan: What else are you up to when you are not making or playing gaming? What are your hobbies and interests?
Anton Prydatko: Aside from programming or making games, in the past few years, I took up drawing and started to spend a lot of time on digital illustration! I’m still learning and practicing a lot but aside from being a good skill to have and having a more keen sense of what is good visually, it’s always been a dream of mine to be able to make or draw something entirely on my own as it’s so different to programming and more mathematical skills.
Azfar Rayan: So, what does the future hold for Anton Prydatko, and where can we expect to find you?
Anton Prydatko: For now, Arcaea’s main story is concluded and something that we poured a tremendous amount of effort into has drawn to a close. I’m not sure yet what the future holds, but instead of doing the same thing forever I and the team want to find that big ‘what is next’ in games, possibly specifically in mobile.
Azfar Rayan: Anything for your fans at GamesCreed?
Anton Prydatko: Thanks so much for the opportunity and please take the chance to try out Arcaea! It’s not as intimidating as it seems and once you find the broader community of people playing you’ll see just how much there is to the game and its history.
Many thanks to Anton Prydatko for taking his time to answer my questions and doing the interview with us. We wish him the best with his game Arcaea, launched on Android. Keep up with Anton Prydatko’s works by following lowiro on Twitter.
