Khalil Abdullah is the Co-Founder of Decoy Games, an indie game company he runs with his brother Ahmed. He studied computer science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Their current title is Swimsanity, a 4-Player Co-Op game coming to Steam, Xbox One, Playstation 4 and the Nintendo Switch in 2020.
Me:
Tell me more about yourself and your background.
Khalil:
Me and my brother (Ahmed) always knew we wanted to make games even when we were young we would make fake video games out of paper cut-outs. I started actual game development towards the end of my college career at the University of Massachusetts Amherst when I started working on flash games in my free time.
Me and my brother worked on an extremely different prototype of Swimsanity than people see today and did that part time while teaching ourselves how to make games for about 6-7 years while we worked software-sales jobs full time. This allowed us to learn the business side of selling software while also learning how to make games.
We recently made the jump full time a year ago when we felt our opportunities outweighed our dual workload.
Me:
To clarify, is that when you started Decoy Games?
What has it been like in the last year since you made the jump? Any challenges you didn’t anticipate?
Keenan:
Yeah Decoy Games as an idea started around that year after college. We were first publicly seen around 4 years later in 2013 at Pax East, and then after going dark to focus on the game once we got our console licenses we resurfaced in 2018 to start pushing the final game.
I think for the most part it’s been a huge burden off our back shedding the sales job. It was something we knew we would have to do at some point so we made sure we planned for it and put money aside as we were working the previous 9 years.
Other than that I think it’s the typical challenges that come around releasing a game globally for the first time. So definitely a lot of learning experiences will be better for next time around. All in all its been a lot of fun though
Me:
I saw you’ve managed to build up a following and have a decent number of followers on Facebook and Twitter.
I should mention I do some online promotion for indie games as a side business, and I know how hard it is to build an audience in an oversaturated market like indie games. How did you go about building an audience?
Khalil:
We kind of pride ourselves not as game devs but also being self-published. And we knew when we started we had just as much to learn on the publishing side. We looked at what others were doing when we got started guys like Behemoth and Twisted Pixel and other up and coming indies.
Conventions and showcases played a huge role in building our initial audience. Because it allows you to not only interact with gamers but also other influencers and members of the industry. We found that not just the big cons but even the small cons in the world provide unreal benefit.
We actually made connections to all three consoles from small local conventions.
Me:
So the networking you were able to do at conventions helped put eyeballs on your projects?
Khalil:
Yeah we are big advocates of valued networking.
I have this, you have that…let’s do work together.
Me:
Let’s talk more about Pax East. You mentioned Decoy Games got to go, and I saw some of the photos on your FB page as well.
How did that help with Swimsanity’s success? Meet any movers or shakers to help you along?
Khalil:
Pax East is one of our favorite cons and happens to be local to us too. We have showcased there four times, the first time being in 2013. Mind you our game and studio has matured a lot since then but every year for us has been hugely beneficial
But yes we have had a lot of great connections at Pax. More than I can mention here but a lot of the things people see us doing today started at those type shows.
Me:
Tell me more about the projects you’ve worked on. Swimsanity is the most recent, correct?
Anything else in the works currently?
Khalil:
Swimsanity is unique in that it was the tool that taught us game development. So we have done this thing in so many iterations that its essentially been like working on different games. We went from a hyper casual single player Swimsanity, to a multiplayer hyper casual, to a mega man type single player game.
At one point we even had a full over the top epic story written out for a version of the game. But yeah we used this to teach ourselves how to make games over the years under the umbrella of Swimsanity. And given all the changes it has allowed us to touch different genres.
Right now we are 100% focused on Swimsanity and given that it is on PC and all consoles worldwide in 13 different languages has our plates full. With that said we have our next 2.5 game ideas cemented and ready to go. We know our next game and can say it will not be a Swimsanity sequel.
Me:
What were some of the games you grew up with? How do they influence your work today?
What else inspires you creatively?
Khalil:
Well I personally have been playing games since I was 3. First game was the original Mario on NES. I would say the prime of my gaming days were N64. I was huge on co-op and party games at the time so bomberman, mario party, perfect dark was a big one. Then going into Dreamcast with games like Power Stone and up to my favorite Left 4 dead titles.
I have always been about games I can play with groups of friends that get us going back and forth and having a good time.
Me: I see. Is that why you and your brother went with the 4-player co-op approach for Swimsanity rather than the other genres you were playing around with?
Khalil:
That was one of the reasons. A lot of ideas and concepts came from different pieces of bomberman, perfect dark, power stone and games alike.
Believe it or not the original game concept started from this…
Me:
The Decoy Games logo is…different haha. I can dig it.
Is there a story behind it?
Khalil:
Yeah lol. Well we like to put a bit of us into what we do.
We wanted to play on the Decoy aspect of it. So we talked about the idea of a hunting decoy. That got us to the Decoy duck. And once we locked into that we said we gotta make him hip and got him a high top fade and some beats…now he’s part of the team lol.
Me:
What’s your perspective on the protests, and everything else happening around the country right now?
Khalil:
I have been blessed to have parents who value traveling and exploring other countries and through my life I have been able to see countries and cultures all over the world. I have been to Belgium, Bali, Thailand, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, and several others just to mention some of the variety.
I can honestly say this
There is no such thing as a perfect country
They all have their pros and cons across all different facets and seeing this at a young age allowed myself not to buy into a “we do it better than them” type bias
Are there things America does great? Of course! Are there things America does horrible? Of course!
I find that to be the case everywhere. There are other countries that have an amazing sense of community that I am not sure America will ever find even though they may not have the same riches for example.
Khalil:
Without getting too much into the weeds of politics I do think one of those things America has missed the ball with is racial injustice (and several other types of equality and justice) and while the George Floyd incident was far from the first of its type, it has definitely put a spotlight on a weak spot of the nation
Me:
A fellow traveler! As a quick aside, what’s your favorite destination?
And where’s the first place you’re going to once borders open up again? Lol
Khalil:
I loved Africa. It’s beautiful.
Probably traveling for work lol. But for leisure I would like to go to Kenya or back to South Africa next.
We did Egypt that was fun too
My dad spent a lot of time in Morocco
Me:
What do you anticipate will come out of the protests?
Could this be the start of real substantive change for Black Americans and a beginning for police accountability?
Khalil:
I hope so. But I try not to get ahead of myself. Protests and statements are great, but there has to be real legislation changes to make people accountable. So hopefully it starts there.
Me:
Whenever I go to gamedev meetups or coworking spaces for startups and tech workers, I tend to see a lot of this:
Khalil:
Big facts lol.
Me:
Lol I know huh?
What can we do to make gamedev spaces more inclusive for Black/PoC as well as people from historically marginalized communities? How do we make diversity the “norm”?
What resistance have you encountered in your journey as a game developer that you perceive as being based solely on your skin color? How did you navigate those situations?
Khalil:
I think it starts from the top. There are People of Color doing great things in the industry and we need to showcase them. And if “you” are part of that group you need to showcase yourself.
I think representation instills confidence. I am a big sports guy. And you see it there. 15 years ago there were never any black quarterbacks. You have a couple break the mold and the youth finds confidence. Now you can’t miss them.
We need the same thing from People of Color. Lets showcase those doing great things instead of focusing on those who aren’t then allow the youth to imitate those role models.
I think for myself personally, while in different parts of my life I have faced upfront racism I try not to focus on those because to be honest those individuals really don’t deserve my energy. But as far as the effects of unintentional racial inequality I always talk about getting into computer science itself. When I started the program I was a lonely chocolate chip. So at times you question “Do I even belong here?” when things aren’t working out. Luckily I had my brother so we could boost each other but I know others aren’t as lucky. This theme repeats itself even to this day as I start to grow in a space with low representation.
Me:
I see. So representation is the key here. Once more devs of color show up at cons, at coworking spaces, at meetups, in industry spaces and in AAA studios, the youth of today will see that and go “that can be me one day!”
Kinda like that?
Khalil:
Yeah for sure. And I think the key here is representation across all spaces.
Lets stop just focusing on game dev
Because there are SOOO many aspects of participation in the industry
We got art, music, voice acting, streaming, event coordinating, publishing, PR…. the list goes on. So showing PoC that you have so many opportunities here for you is a huge part in instilling that confidence and something we try to do in our events like Game On.
Travis:
That’s awesome that you and your brother have been such a support for each other.
And yeah. There’s more than one way to get in.
Tell me more about Game On!
Khalil:
Game On is an event we held last February where we linked up with Microsoft and Unity to create an event that showcases black excellence in gaming. Across all facets of the industry whether it be development, esports, streaming and more.
Our thought is that the biggest issue is representation. Because a lack of representation means a lack of confidence. And we feel showing the best of the best and what they do creates a great platform for the next generation
You can support the movement for racial justice by donating on the Black Lives Matter Website.
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