Summary
In June, mobile developer MY.GAMES announced its new premium label, Knights Peak, with a slate of games includingStarship Troopers: Extermination, as well asnarrative games likePathfinder: KingmakerandMandragora. The company’s foray into premium publishing is built on partnerships throughout the industry.
With more news teased for Gamescom in late August, Game Rant was able to do a deep dive into what makes Knights Peak stand out with the label’s Vice-President of Publishing, Eugenio Vitale. Vitale carries a lot of those partnerships and history, and he has a real passion forKnights Peak’s mission.
The Vision For Knights Peak
Each developer, publisher, or contributor to gameshas their own DNA, the fingerprint that makes their work stand out as their work. For Bioware it’s branching narratives, for Bethesda, it’s project scale; for Square-Enix it’s high expectations and impressive physics. Knights Peak is a very new label, so the unique style of a Knights Peak game has yet to coalesce.
That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to say about what makes something a Knights Peak project. Vitale explained what values the label takes into its nascent catalogue, forming the beginning of that signature style.
We believe that our games should embody three key pillars: personality, familiarity, and quality. Each title should bring something new to the table within its genre, offering innovation while still allowing players to connect with the game on a familiar level … At the heart of Knights Peak lies a steadfast commitment to partnership. We believe in fostering eye-to-eye relationships with developers and players alike. We have a deep appreciation for the sacrifices developers make and an unwavering respect for their creative vision.
And that shows in the choices Knights Peak has made thus far. One of the strongest examples of the three pillars Vitale mentioned isMandragora, aforthcoming gothic metroidvania soulslike RPGwritten byVampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines’Brian Matsuda and inspired by Irish folklore. Knights Peak is dedicated to working with Primal Games to bring the game to life as part of a publishing partnership.
That kind of commitment to partnership is very personal to Vitale. His career from indie motocross developer to today has been marked with collaboration.
Why Vitale Being at the Helm is a Big Deal
Choosing Vitale for the job brought a lot of connections to Knights Peak’s fingertips. Vitale has worked with developers big and small,including Deep Silverand Mad Head. On top of that, his thirty years in the industry has given him a perspective on just what developers at any scale need for support from a publisher.
Starting a company in my early 20s was no easy feat, and while I had a clear vision of what I wanted to achieve, I have to admit that my people management skills left much to be desired initially. I am forever grateful to my early colleagues who helped me grow and improve. These experiences continue to inform my understanding of developers and the challenges they face in bringing their creations to life.
Vitale started The Dawn Interactive, working on motocross titles in 1994. He traveled all across Italy to recruit developers, starting with a team of three–with two working day jobs. Their team had todevelop their own engine in MS-DOS, having started development before Windows 95 was even announced. From there, the team was able to releaseExtreme Trial Motocrossin 1998. The small studio was able to sell 500,000 copies despite Vitale’s inexperience in marketing and publishing at the time.
He continued to work with motocross, partnering with publishers and champions of the sport and honing his talents, both as an indie developer wearing multiple hats and as a marketer and publisher. Now, he’s supporting people in the position he was in as a younger developer, and providing those resources to the teams that partner with Knights Peak.
Putting Experience Into Practice
Now the Vice-President of Publishing at Knights Peak, Vitale can directly apply his background to the kind of brand that MY.GAMES’ new label wants to be. His expertise with building connections, working at multiple levels of development, and getting resources where they need to be is critical to a good publisher.
And he’s built both his team and Knights Peak’s catalogue to get that relationship with the broader industry off to a strong start. To no small extent, Knights Peak is the fruit of Vitale’s labor - though he humbly attributes the starting position of the label to good fortune.
I’ve had the privilege of driving our publishing agreements and assembling the Knights Peak publishing team, strategy, and operations. Luck was on my side as I found incredibly experienced colleagues who are helping us become the publisher we aspire to be. Our catalogue currently includes five games:Starship Troopers: Extermination,Nikoderiko,Mandragora,Pathfinder: Kingmaker, andBlast Brigade, with more to come.
From this foundation, Knights Peak is eager to expand this catalogue in the future, though Vitale isn’t losing sight of the partnerships that the label has already formed. He gave those partners his heartfelt thanks for having faith in Knights Peak as a publisher. He also directed those interested in Knights Peak’s future to turn their eyes to Gamescom, which the team is putting a lot of energy into, in late August.
