Creating today's complicated video games definitely isn't child's play.
Aharon Cagle, a marketer turned video game entrepreneur, is leading a 15-person team in creating a new role-playing game, "Ambrov X." He's CEO and founder of
Loreful, an independent video game development company launched last fall.
Cagle, who's worked for Brand Populace and EmpowerMedia Marketing, is a passionate gamer who decided to turn that passion into his life's work.
"I hit 40, and I was like, 'I love games so much more than I love marketing.' I'd been a creative marketing director, so I knew I could lead a team of this size. So I wrote the business plan and started Loreful."
Cagle is working with a team of writers, designers, developers, visual arts, voice actor, animators and more to bring life to "Ambrov X."
Much of the team is already in Cincinnati, while others are moving here for the project, Cagle says.
"We're in the process of pulling people here to Cincinnati," he says.
The game garnered exposure during the recent Cincy ComicCon and Cincinnati Comic Expo.
"We have a playable pre-alpha version of the game we've been showing around. It's not necessarily how the game will ultimately look, but it shows the larger vision of what we want to do," Cagle says.
Set for release in early 2015, "Ambrov X" is being developed in partnership with the Science Fiction franchise Sime~Gen. The game is based on the
Sime~Gen Universe novels that envision a future where humans have divided into two subspecies: Gens and Simes.
Gens produce a life energy that Simes need to survive. The novels center on the subspecies' struggle for co-existence.
"We're basically taking that story 1,000 years in the future. The humans have learned to live with this genetic catastrophe and are beginning to explore space," Cagle explains.
"Ambrov X" is planned for release on Windows, OS X and Linux through
STEAM, a game-distribution platform. The game will be released in five episodes, ranging from three to five hours each.
Loreful is in the midst of a $500,000
Kickstarter campaign to help push development, set to end Oct. 5
By Feoshia H. Davis