Hi, it’s Bruce again,

It is about a month since the last progress report so there is plenty of new stuff to report on.

We have been having a lot of discussions about something called the “business model”. This is basically the mechanism by which you, the customer, pay us fairly for the work that we do. We have looked at all the alternatives allowed by Apple and also the way that other apps do this. Basically we have 5 criteria:

• It is very important not to toxify the Kwalee brand, so the mechanism must be seen to be equitable by everyone involved.
• We want to reach the biggest possible audience so as to grow the brand.
• Customers must be given the options to build and customise the game to their own requirements.
• We need a mechanism that minimises piracy. If people don’t pay for our work then we soon won’t have jobs and then our future apps won’t get made.
• Although say $1.99 is a trivial sum to an iPhone user in the USA, to many smartphone owners in the developing world it is a significant amount.

Currently the development team are hard at work developing our own, in house, technology. This is needed to get the apps to do what we want them to do so that you get a more rewarding experience!

They are also working on two games. Codename “Vegemite” is a complex development of a simple game. It takes real strategy to play and is great fun. Codename “Go” is a unique and more complex game that we discovered externally and which we are gradually working up to be a great app.

One thing that is very noticeable is the large quantity of superb art that is being produced. I am very confident that our games will look fantastic!

On the marketing and communications side the new website is up and working at a secret location! We have an external team working on getting it finished right now as I write this. It will certainly be a lot different to this current site! One thing we are very keen on is fast and reliable downloading of our content, so we have been very careful about selecting our hosting. The site is going on a private server that is close to the backbone with low ping times and very high levels of security. A number of game companies have had their websites hacked by vandals, we are taking care that we do not join them.

Good news is that Tanya has agreed to appear in more of our press release pictures, so the “polishing” photograph could be the first of many.

Talking of press releases, we try and make each photo relevant. So David Darling was photographed in front of Queen Victoria because his job is to lead and I was pictured in front of the band stand because my job is to make a lot of noise. So now the Mark Oxenham image was in front of some very complex architecture which is as close as we could get to a visual representation of programming without getting the team to print out the large amount of source code that they’ve been steadily adding to over the last month!

We are now working on merchandise so that everyone can buy into the Kwalee brand and impress their friends with some cheeky messages!

Also the marketing department is currently recruiting, as you can see in the careers section of this website. These are exciting jobs that will really enhance the successful candidates’ careers. Firstly we need a community person to make sure that we are talking to and listening to you properly. This needs someone who really knows games, who is confident using all the social media and who is familiar with social bookmarking, SEO and all the other myriad elements that make up people’s use of the internet. The second job is in communications. Identifying people who are stakeholders and then ensuring the best two way communication with them. A lot of the job will be ensuring that journalists have everything from us that they need.

It is not just the marketing department that is recruiting, we still need more development staff to join our excellent team. Just now a games designer and a network programmer are top of our list but there are other jobs as you can see in the careers section. We are looking to recruit the best possible candidates and the advantage of this is that anyone who is successful gets to join an elite squad. This is a great place to work.