Interviews

ZeptoLab on Cut the Rope's BAFTA win: 'a turning point for the industry'

Home and portable console conversion possible

ZeptoLab on Cut the Rope's BAFTA win: 'a turning point for the industry'
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| Cut the Rope

The launch of the App Store, and with it Sega's Super Monkey Ball, was seen by many as the legitimate arrival of mobile gaming as a serious platform.

For others, that landmark was passed when Sony started to get nervous and make adverts like the one in which mascot Marcus makes disparaging remarks about iPhone games while playing on a PSPgo.

For others still it was when Doodle Jump got a mention in The Big Bang Theory, or when Angry Birds got a mention in everything ever for a whole year.

So by the time ZeptoLab's Cut the Rope beat Professor Layton and the Lost Future, Sonic Colours, Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4, Super Scribblenauts, and God of War: Ghost of Sparta to the handheld BAFTA last week, nobody was in any doubt that mobile gaming had arrived.

Even so, it's quite an achievement, underlining the fact that multi-million dollar budgets, established franchises, and coming out on devices designed for playing games on are less central to success than orthodoxy once held.

We spoke to ZeptoLab's Efim Voinov about the significance of winning the BAFTA, what swung it for the casual hit, and what the studio's plans are.

Were you surprised to win a BAFTA with an iPhone game?

A few months ago Cut the Rope won the Game Developers Choice Award as best handheld game at GDC, so we were hoping the luck would stay on our side with BAFTA as well.

That being said, we were holding our breath when the envelope containing the winner's name was being opened, and we were extremely glad and honored to hear our game's title, especially considering how tough the other nominees were.

What do you think swung it in Cut the Rope's favour?

Om Nom's charm must be hard to resist!

How significant do you think it is that an iOS game has beaten games on more established handhelds in an establishment awards event?

It's evidence of the mobile platform becoming mature enough to allow the work of developers to be considered art in terms of game design and graphics. So, yes, I think it can be considered a turning point for the industry.

Do you expect to see Android and WP7 games winning awards at future events?

As of now these platforms provide great opportunities for the development of quality and advanced applications. So there are no obstacles to creating worthy games, which could no doubt win prestigious awards.

Will you be supporting Cut the Rope with more themed updates?

We are going to continue adding new content as well as other improvements to the game.

Do you hope to build a Cut the Rope 'brand', as Rovio has done with Angry Birds, with spin-off games etc?

We get a lot of messages from Cut the Rope fans about how they really like the game in general and Om Nom in particular, so of course we're working on brand. But the development of the game itself is our top priority.

Do you have any plans to bring Cut the Rope to any of the handheld or home consoles?

We are looking into possibilities of porting Cut the Rope to other platforms besides iOS. However, there's nothing that we can announce yet.

Can you tell us anything about other projects you're working on?

We have a lot of interesting ideas for other projects, but as of now we are mostly focused on improving Cut the Rope. Thanks to Efim for his time.

Rob Hearn
Rob Hearn
Having obtained a distinguished education, Rob became Steel Media's managing editor, now he's no longer here though.