In The Chair: Jason Kingsley
From a basement in Oxford to a group of dev studios, Jason and his brother Chris have guided Rebellion from the start. Andrew Fisher talks to Jason as the company turns 25 years old
The cocreator of Rebellion discusses forming the studio, working with his brother and 2000AD
It was a hard first question, but what makes a game a ‘Rebellion game’? Jason replies, “Playability. Above all, gameplay is paramount. Graphics are important and we try to have the best graphics and story that we can. But at the end of the day if you ask me what component of a game makes it enjoyable, it’s got to be the feel of the gameplay. And that’s hard to write down and hard to define, but there have been plenty of beautiful games that have bad gameplay and plenty of ugly games that have great gameplay. For me, at the top of the list is always gameplay. I want people to feel like they were thrilled when they put down the controller.”
What were your earliest experiences with the world of videogames?
I remember playing both Scramble and Space Invaders on arcade machines, and those pocket gamer watch things… I’m not sure which order everything came in now! There was a Scramble machine in the local chip shop. You’d go for chips after school and put your spare 10p into that. Arcade machines were obviously a big influence for Chris and I, and those fond memories of playing the iconic Battlezone machine played a big part in us bringing back Battlezone for virtual reality.
When did you start making games?
My brother Chris and I would invent our own variations of classic board games. So even as a kid I was thinking about making games. I eventually started working freelance after university for companies such as Electronic Arts and Atari.
Whose idea was it to set up Rebellion?
Chris and I had both been freelancers for a while and we set up the company because we were being asked to act as project managers but were not being paid to do so by the publishers, and because we were working with a group of other freelancers, we couldn’t do anything if the others were late in delivering their milestones. We really wanted to formalise everything and form a development group, and having a limited company was a way of doing that. It gave us the opportunity to approach and pitch our ideas, and that’s what really got us on our way.
Who designed the logo, which has stayed with the company for 25 years?
We discussed a range of different company names and logos, and eventually settled on the idea of basing it on the Solidarność logo, the one used by the Polish trade union. I felt like it conveyed the image of the word ‘Rebellion’ that was spray-painted onto a wall. It was a chap called Justin Rae who originally drew it up for us – he was our first employee, and he later went on to work for EA.
In those early days how did you divide the work between yourself and Chris?
50/50, always has been. Chris is more technical than me. Arguably I’m a bit more artistic than Chris, though it’s fair to say we both share both traits. So, broadly speaking, we follow the same routes. So I would be doing the art and design and he would be doing the design and code.
Do you still get involved in game design and programming?
100 per cent, yes. Absolutely, it’s very important to me. It’s why I set the company up in the first place; I