Pixel Prioritised: McPixel Steam Greenlight Interview

News by Adam Smith Former Deputy Editor

Published on Sept. 27, 2012

McPixel has exploded onto Steam and is the first game to reach Valve's storefront through the Greenlight process. There's a feature about the indies and Steam coming later, courtesy of Nathan who has been visiting Fantastic Arcade where he was witness to a Valve panel all about Greenlight. I didn't go to Fantastic Arcade but I did wake up at 7.30 this morning, endure the difficult commute from my bed to my computer and put on my Serious Journalist Hat. Primed and ready, I sent a list of very important and serious questions to Sos Sosowski about being the Armstrong of indies: the first man on Greenlight.

RPS: Is being the first game processed through Steam Greenlight the most important event of your life?

Sosowski: Haha, well, perhaps not as much being the first, as getting on Steam at all! It is a great achievement for every indie developer! After several failed attempts of submitting to Steam by pitching the game directly to Valve, I saw the Greenlight announcement, and thought 'This! This is just perfect!'. At some point I realised that McPixel would have never made it through Valve's QA process, or any QA process at all. Just think about it. You launch the game, and there's a Brain Damage warning, then there's a guy pissing on dynamite and he blows up, then a giant rock falls onto him crushing him, then he assaults an old man reading a book and kicks a baby in the butt. And that's before the game even starts! And then.. well, then it really starts!

RPS: Hmmmm...most QA departments I know hate babies' butts and literate old men. They would approve. Do you have any understanding as to the arcane machinations that led to McPixel being first?

Sosowski: Well, it is the only 100% finished and already published game from the 10 that got greenlit from what I can tell. I guess that's what led to it!

RPS: If Steam were a comment thread under a blogpost, would you actually write 'first' there? If not, what would you write?

Sosowski: That totally crossed my mind. But when McPixel was launched on Steam I got into "WOoooooooowoOOOOOoOooOOOoOooo12!!1!!!111!!1!!!!! IT'S ON!" mode and totally forgot about that.

RPS: Does this mean McPixel is officially the most loved indie game in the world, ever? The people have spoken, or at least they have clicked on a button.

Sosowski: Haha, I don't think that's the case. It's more of recognised than loved. The game kind of shoves the McPixel logo over 1000 times in your face during a usual playthrough, so it won't let you forget about itself easily :) .

RPS: I think 'what was the first game on Steam Greenlight' will be a pub quiz question in years to come. How does it feel that McPixel is going to be the answer to a question in an imaginary pub quiz that as of now only exists in my mind? Pretty good, I bet.

Sosowski: Man, it's going to be a million dollar question in "Who wants to be a Millionaire'. That is because no one will remember the answer :)

RPS: How did you celebrate? A particular drink, dance or dinner? By exploding?

Sosowski: I celebrated by replying to 346367345676 emails I got as soon as it was out. But seriously, I did not have any time to even think about how to celebrate! But I plan to do so during the weekend. There's a local gaming expo called Poznan Game Arena. I didn't have a budget for a stand there, but I will just put on my McPixel outfit again, take a ghettoblaster with McPixel theme recorded on the tape and roam the expo making sure everyone knows McPixel is out on Steam!

RPS: Was there any communication with Valve during the process, or did you find out when everybody else did?

Sosowski: I actually kept shamelessly nagging Valve about McPixel even during the Greenlight voting. I tried different approaches of pitching McPixel to them before and during Greenlight. One time I wrote a 'terribly business email' describing advantages of putting McPixel on Steam and I was awfully serious throughout it and in the end I included this "chart that sums all the advantages"