Alliances, betrayal, hook-ups, and break-ups make Game of Thrones a perfect story … for Facebook. Recognizing that connection, Boston-based video game company Disruptor Beam developed the first Thrones game hosted on Facebook’s platform: Game of Thrones Ascent, which launched earlier this morning.
This morning’s launch marks the end of a year-and-a-half of development, which started in fall of 2011 after Disruptor Beam founder and CEO Jon Radoff approached George R. R. Martin about creating a game based on his books and the HBO series. Radoff says his goal was to create a game that would hook players right away and hold their interest.
The game is available on Facebook free of charge. “This is a thinking person’s game,” Radoff said. “If people are looking for a videogame where you log in and bash something with a sword, this isn’t going to be the game for them. If people are looking for a deeply immersive experience within this world then I think this is a really interesting game to a large number of people.”
Hank Howie, COO of Disruptor Beam, describes Game of Thrones Ascent as a social game with anti-social aspects. Mirroring the relationships between characters in the books and HBO series, players can invite their friends to help them complete quests—but are under no obligation to remain allies. That the game is hosted on Facebook’s platform only adds to the social tension. “It’s a compelling reason to utilize the social channel,” Howie said.
A team of more than 50 artists, engineers, designers, and writers assembled the story and graphics. Disruptor Beam recruited many writers that had previous experience working on other Game of Thrones products. “We want people to come into the game and feel like they’re living the Game of Thrones,” Radoff said.
