Australian Gamer Feature :: A visit to Auran Games

Yug pays a visit to local Brisbane based developer Auran to find out how they've been coping since Fury launched last year, and what their future plans are.

A visit to Auran Games | Interview with Tony Hilliam, Ceo of Auran Games

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Alot can happen in 2 years.

Once synonymous with one of the most critically acclaimed games to be made in Australia (Dark Reign), the liquidation of their development division as well as the critical and commercial failure of their game Fury is the new reputation that Auran has to deal with.

The closure of Auran Developments in December last year not only confirmed that Fury had failed to meet expectations, but also left over 60 employees jobless over Christmas.

However, this article is not about the much publicised fall of Auran. It's now almost 5 months on, all the ex-employees have been paid their outstanding money by the government and are employed elsewhere, Fury has still been quietly kicking along with a few patches released here and there, and the dust has settled.

What now?

What ever happened to the Tardis??

Turning up to the Auran offices in New Farm (Brisbane) brought back fond memories (I contracted to them as a website developer for a quarter of a year), but when I walked through the back garage entrance that I was familiar with it was immediately apparent how much had changed. The entire area that had once consisted of almost a hundred computer systems, desks, booths, and busy developers was now entirely gutted. It looked like ... well ... a warehouse. The exception was a few standing office blocks that used to house a few of the main offices and the QA section. I found my way in without too much difficulty to meet the current Auran team.

Their offices consisted two main rooms - one that housed a huge number of tightly packed computers (QA) and another that was much more spaced out (Developers). I didn't recognize any of the faces there with the exception of Tony Hilliam - CEO of Auran Games, and Paul Olsen - Publishing. I spent a good amount of time catching up with Paul who I hadn't seen for ages, and we talked about some of the upcoming Auran / N3vrf41l published games coming out soon (such as Sins of a Solar Empire).

The new Auran offices

I finally got a sit down with Tony and stole some of his lunch while he explained to me the plan Auran had to revive Fury, and after reading through the press release I have to agree that it's the most innovative and smart decision they could possibly make. Fury League (www.furyleague.com) is the name, and it's basically a ladder tournament system that allows you to pay and play for Fury Gold, which you can then exchange for REAL money.

I wish I had known that before I tried to use Fury money earlier this year:

Anyway, back to Fury League, it's an excellent concept and if enough people come back and give Fury another go, then it has the potential to make Fury ... *gasp* ... Fun. Yes, you heard me. Have you actually played the game since it was released last year? I downloaded the (admittedly bloody huge) install file and had another crack at it, and was relieved to find it actually RAN on my computer, something the game struggled to do out of the box 6 months ago.

The main point I felt Tony was trying to get across was that Fury has changed in the last 6 months, and that if you had even the slightest interest in the game 6 months ago, it's ready now for you to come back and give it another try.

Awards and accolades won over the years

After my interview with Tony I meandered around a bit more, took a few more photos, and then headed back out into the expansive warehouse.

I think alot of people will always hold a grudge against Auran for the way they shut down their development arm last year, but after almost 6 months I'm finally more interested to see how Auran fare in the future as a games developer slowly rising up from the ashes. The Fury may have been unleashed last year, but it seems its true potential may not have been realised until now.

Only one way to find out.

CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE TO THE NEXT PAGE - AN INTERVIEW WITH TONY HILLIAM, CEO OF AURAN GAMES

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