Interview: Interzone Entertainment’s Jeff Lyndon Talks Interzone Futebol

Staff writer Paul Sherrard took the opportunity to speak with Interzone Entertainment’s Jeff Lyndon on their football (soccer) MMO, Interzone Futebol. The 3D MMO is currently in alpha-testing.

The MMO Gamer: To begin, could you tell The MMO Gamer’s readers about Interzone Entertainment - your team members, how you all came together, and the company’s mission.

Jeff Lyndon: Interzone Entertainment is an online games developer headquartered in the US, with studios in China, Brazil, and Australia.

We have more than one hundred experts from around the world, including the US, UK, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Brazil, Australia, Thailand, and Japan, who share common work experience, knowledge, and passion for games.

Each department is made up of highly experienced and talented professionals. Our Lead Designer, Joseph Hewitt, worked on the original Command & Conquer, Earth & Beyond, and recently completed work on Fury. Scott Gall, our Localization Manager, was involved with Final Fantasy XI and Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker. Our QA manager, Richard Maxwell, worked on Heavenly Sword and I personally worked on Shadowbane. That is only the tip of our iceberg!

The company’s mission is simple: To deliver a fun, enjoyable, and interactive games.

The MMO Gamer: How did the concept for Interzone Futebol come together? What was the genesis of the project?

Jeff Lyndon: The initial idea came from our president, Marty Brickey, as he was flying his plane over Chicago, Illinois. Soccer, or futebol as they say in Brazil, is the most popular sport in the world and yet no one has attempted to create a true multi-player online version.

With the continual growth in popularity of online games and sport games, this idea seemed like a no-brainer. We realized there would be many technical and design obstacles to overcome, but we also knew that the end product would be amazing!

The MMO Gamer: There are growing numbers of MMOs, but the sports genre has remained virtually empty until now. How did you approach the game design in order to set Interzone Futebol apart from anything else in the market?

Jeff Lyndon: Online sport gaming is still a relatively new concept. As far as our research shows, there have been few attempts at making a sport MMO for both East and West, and in my eyes, they failed or are still under development.

In terms of gameplay, we set ourselves apart from other soccer games by delivering a true multiplayer version of realistic gameplay. It is not 2 or 8 players in 1 game but 22 players. We don’t have “levels” or “powers” and we do not impose mindless grinding or playing the game all by yourself.

In terms of our social world, the world is based on Ipanema in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Although we are not mapping out Ipanema street by street and shop by shop, if you have been there you will recognize the environment. Designing a virtual world based on a real city is rarely approached.

The MMO Gamer: Will Interzone Futebol be based on a monthly payment plan or on a different revenue-generating structure?

Jeff Lyndon: For our Brazilian market, after intensive research and focus group review we decided to use the free to play model with non-intrusive in-game advertisement.

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