A ‘cat daddy’, in the lumber sector, is how the person who climbs cut trees that get hooked is known and ‘lets go’ so that they fall and the work can continue. The experience in the Harley Howe family business inspired him in 1996 to name the video game development studio that he was going to create with Patrick Wilkinson . In their own words, both saw this name as the right one for their business given that they ‘operated without a safety net’ making risky video games for a wide variety of emerging platforms .
25 years have passed and Cat Daddy Games has managed to get ahead and grow in a world as fast-paced and competitive as the video game sector is. They took their first steps with the Nintendo Wii console and the Xbox Kinect motion capture system before taking the leap and growing in mobile and augmented reality, but with the door open to any novelty that may appear on the horizon. Currently, the studio is part of Take-Two Interactive and has made a name for itself in mobile video games with titles such as NBA 2K Mobile , MyNBA 2K21 or WWE Supercard (which has been seven seasons and more than 21 million downloads throughout the world).
In this interview we get to know Harley Howe and Patrick Wilkinson, co-directors of the study , to discover first-hand their experience in the sector, their work and their expectations for the future.
Cat Daddy Games was born in 1996. Since then, how has the studio changed and how has the video game industry changed? Are you where you thought you would be now?
Harley: We were a lot smaller back then!
Pat: One of the constants in this industry is change. Platforms come and go, new technologies come and go, and players identify and seek new experiences in line with the times. Cat Daddy is positioned to be agile , adopt new strategies, new platforms, technologies and experiences.
Harley: Arguably the biggest change has been the move to mobile … contained experiences that you can keep in your pocket and play in your free time. One of the most recent changes has been to the live operations side of the games. It’s not about what’s new in the latest update, it’s about what’s new today and this week . With our titles, we are meeting these new expectations, so when players open our apps, there is always something new to experience.
In your opinion, what is it that makes your video games different from the others?
Pat: We spent a lot of time meeting the expectations of fans of entire generations. With the WWE SuperCard , for example, there is content for all types of WWE fans . From people who grew up with ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage to families who see every week what Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins are up to.
Harley: We try to put a little bit of everything into our games. To reach people so much that they only have five minutes to play, even those who want to spend hours enjoying our experiences. One of the challenges is finding a way to bridge this gap and make our games a constant hobby.
Today, when users have so many options, how do you keep their attention on your products?
Harley: New experiences are vital, as is keeping up with an IP.
Pat: By listening to what our players are saying and making development decisions based on that . We are entering several seasons of several of our titles and that would not be possible without our audience and their passion .
When talking about user consumption time, is it possible to beat an AAA console game with a mobile game?
Harley: I think so! I play many different games while keeping pace with our titles. The key, again, is in balancing our experiences . If I have less time one day, can I still have meaningful progress and fun? We try to answer that with our design, technology and development approach.
WWE SuperCard has over 21 million downloads and seven seasons (that’s great, congrats). What do you think is the key that has made it work so well?
Pat: Seven seasons is a huge milestone. The key has been the fantastic partnership with WWE and also with our fan base. When you open the WWE SuperCard , there is always something new to do and experience. And our development line adapts to your comments and contributions .
Many mobile games are taking popular icons to use them in a different way than we are used to seeing them. Do you think this “renewal” is a key factor in the success of mobile games?
Harley: There are many ways to take advantage of a brand as diverse as WWE. We wanted to try and create a unique CCG … our own vision of a proven genre. The cards are great because their collectability is known to the world, but we also apply multiple rich and satisfying progression systems . It’s about adding value and creating something that everyone can play with.
Pat: I’m excited to think about where we can go next. What’s the next cool twist we can add? In Season 7, just as an example, we added new styles and techniques to our S7 charts. These are real changes in the way we approach a battle in our game.
Last question, where do you think the world of videogames is heading and where would you like to be in the next few years?
Pat: We want to continue investing in new technologies and reinvest in our existing experiences. We launched our first application on Facebook Cloud Gaming in Fall 2020, and of course we launched WWE SuperCard Season 7, NBA 2K Mobile Season 3, and NBA SuperCard Season 1 this year .
Harley: We will have to see how the landscape changes. That’s the fun part of all this .
