Bridge Constructor Portal is making its way to the PlayStation 4, so we got in touch with Headup Games to talk about this interesting combination.
PS4Blog: Morning! Thank you for taking the time for doing this interview. Could you please get us started by telling our readers a bit about yourself and you work?
Hey, a pleasure to talk. I am Dieter (Schoeller), CEO and Founder of Headup Games, an indie publisher who has been around for about eight years now. Before this, I worked for companies such as Deep Silver and Ubisoft, and even before that, and back in the days, I used to mod for Quake 3 and Wolfenstein Enemy Territory.
PS4B: Bridge Constructor Portal is very much a thing. How would you describe this mashup?
For someone who hasn’t played a Bridge Constructor game before: Imagine taking the general vibe of games such as Lemmings or Worms, adding cool physics-based puzzle mechanics and doing the finishing touch with the Portal lore and humor. And for someone who knows the brand: Imagine the best Bridge Constructor ever, spiced up with the portal mechanics and many other cool things known from the Portal franchise, creating a really refreshing new iteration of the IP.
PS4B: How long did it take to develop the game? Any particular challenges you had to overcome while implementing the Portal license in full?
Core development time for the game itself was roughly ten to twelve months. Taking the whole project time together, including all legal clearances, negotiations and so forth, we are looking at a timeframe of over two years. There were no challenges as we had outstanding support from the Portal team. The challenges faced were mainly formal ones and hitting the right release time which is always tough.
PS4B: Any chance of an expansion being in development for Bridge Constructor Portal to expand on its content?
We are throwing some ideas around with this, but we have not yet decided on anything final. Of course, we would love to expand the game, and we have done so on Bridge Constructor in the past, but let’s get this game out first to all platforms and then worry about the next step.
PS4B: And now it is time for us to go. Is there something else you’d like to add before we end this one?
Well, thank you for your time. And I would like to express my gratitude especially towards Valve who have been an outstanding partner on this project as well as give a shout-out to the tens of millions of faithful Bridge Constructor players who have supported us in the last five years, making a game like this even possible. For me as a die-hard Portal fan, it is a dream project, and I hope we can turn more crazy ideas into great games for you guys!
