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Mara, Koa, Mika, and all things Chibig with Irina Moreno at the BIG Conference

We caught up with Chibig Studio's social media manager in Bilbao to take a good look at the 'Chibigverse' and the different adventure titles the studio has released or will release soon, including the recent Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara, the previous Summer in Mara and mostly the upcoming Mika and the Witch's Mountain, which recently smashed a record on Kickstarter.

Audio transcription

"Alright, we are at the crowded and noisy BIG Conference in Bilbao and we're catching up with Irina to learn about Chibig Games and the different new things that you had this year which is both a game release and a game success at Kickstarter. So thank you so much for joining us. First of all, let's talk about Koa. Koa released in the summer and it's a colorful, beautiful and challenging adventure. So what can you tell us about the success of the game so far and the feedback you got from the community?
Well, thank you so much for reaching us and giving us the opportunity to talk about our games. And speaking about Koa, we're so happy with the release because we expected like every studio when a release comes, we expected some kind of success, especially on Steam, but we had a surprise with the PlayStation sales. The community gave us a happy surprise because they were expecting a platformer like the classic ones, Crash Bandicoot and Super Mario and stuff. Okay, Super Mario is Nintendo Switch but you know. And it was amazing because they reached the game and played like so hard and they are so happy with the result so we are happy as well. And one of the most beautiful things, we worked very hard on it, it was the balance between on the design of the game, because as you mentioned, it's a talent, but there are two different levels. The talent for the people that are not used to play platformer games, they can only enjoy the game like a relaxing experience, just completing the levels and that's it. And also the challenge for the speedrunner community."

"And we're so happy and proud of it.
That's when replayability comes into play as well?
Yes, of course, of course. It's super focused on playing the games and doing the runs as fast as we can, completing, not only because of the time, also for the collecting part, because there are some items spreading to each level and you can get different outfits and backpacks for Koa with this collection."

"So Chibig is all about adventure games, colorful, cozy adventure games with some platforming to them. So we've got Koa, we've got Mara before, and in the same universe, you guys now presented a new game. Is that correct?
Yes, and what that said? Well, Summer in Mara was focused more on the narrative part, not the gameplay as Koa is. And inside of this Chibig universe, the Maraverse, we can find Deiland: Pocket Planet. That is what it was, the first video game of the studio. And also Ankora, those days we released it on 2020. Which year it is? 2023? 2022 was Ankora. Yes, I'm sorry. And we are now so focused on finishing the development of Mika and the Witch's Mountain that it's also in this Chibig universe."

"There are some characters from Summer in Mara, also from Koa, and other surprises hiding.
And both the gameplay and the way you guys presented the game is somewhat different, right?
So the game is about a witch. What's with witches? We've been talking about witch games for a while here, only at this event alone. So witches are very trendy, right? But with this witch, you don't have to tell the fortune, you don't have to make spells, you have to deliver things. Yes, yes. It's not as focused on the magic side as other witchy games. It's more focused on the development of the character that is Mika, the protagonist. She has to deliver packages and it's a way to show a deep narrative behind it, like the path we all have to complete from the childhood to the adulthood, and the opportunities to grow, and the difficulties of life. Like coming of age. And you had a panel today, which was about the Kickstarter story of that project. So what did you, to summarize, what did you share with the audience in terms of how you guys managed to achieve a record-breaking goal, in terms of Kickstarter for Spanish projects, if I'm correct?
Yes, you're correct. It was something so successful, of course, and we're so happy that we had the opportunity to experience that on the studio and as regular people. But it was also very challenging, because making a Kickstarter campaign is something very tough. You have something, a lot of things to analyze, a lot of things to plan in before doing it, and also during the campaign itself. But we're so happy with the result and hopefully we will be able to complete the wishes and expectations we have as developers and also the community."

"So what's the roadmap like as of now? How much are you into the development of the game?
That's the roadmap ahead, and if I'm correct, it was more than 1 million euros that you guys collected.
So how are you guys going to handle this in the upcoming years?
We try to keep the development plan, the initial one, as much as we can do. We obviously had to implement some of the promises made on the campaign, like implementing some mini-games, dungeons and stuff. But the plan is almost the same. We want a short video game from 6-8 hours of adventure. You also can replay it, and the collection side as well, that can take a bit longer. But we are so focused on making that initial plan as much as we can do."

"And hopefully the release will be before summer. Before summer 2024. Okay, final one, spoiler alert.
Where is Mika going to find Mara and Koa in the island?
Okay. Within herself? I can't say. Yeah, I can, I can. There are going to be some characters from Summer in Mara and Koa with a development, not from the physical part, but also in the narrative. In Mika, and also you, the community, the people, the players, will be able to find Koa for a special mission. And that's all I can say. It's almost like you are a witch yourself as well, Irina. Thank you so much for your time. Enjoy the rest of the show and enjoy Bilbao."

"Looking forward to Mika. Oh, thank you so much."

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