2 years of Gunstone Studios!

Time really does fly when you are having a blast! And we have been having such a great time developing and bringing amazing ideas to life here at Gunstone Studios, that we didn’t realize two years have come and gone!

 

 

First of all, we would like to start this throwback thanking all who support us: our partners, clients and player base. We absolutely enjoy our work, and hope to continue doing what we love for years to come!

This has been a wild ride, we have worked on many projects that we feel so proud of. Most notably, this last year we released two big titles: Fire Panda and Stretchy Legs.

Fire Panda – Release date: October 31st

3D platformer for iOS and Android set in Fantasy China. This gorgeous game tells the story of Hóng the Red Panda, and his quest to save the Kingdom from the evil Mongrols – an evil tribe of nomads that want to destroy and enslave the good people of the Kingdom, south of the Great Wall. Hóng must run the length of the Great Wall, defeating enemies and braving great dangers in order to alert his people of the incoming horde of invaders.

Stretchy Legs – Release date: August 22nd

Hyper casual platformer with an interesting gist: You have to calculate the length of your strides in order to move forward! In this game, the player is running late for an important date with a Special Someone, and they have to brave many dangers and obstacles in order to reach their beloved in time for a kiss!

Local Invitations and Professional Achievements for the team.

2019 saw many professional achievements for the studio team as well. We were invited to participate on many cultural and artistic activities where we were able to talk, teach, reach our fans and share panels with other amazing developers and artists from El Salvador and beyond.

Last October, just days before Fire Panda’s release, we were invited to participate in the FIST festival organized in Museo MARTE in San Salvador. There, we shared an amazing forum panel with the people of Stone Bot and The Domaginarium.

We also showcased our work and had many interactions with artists, developers and users from the region. Fire Panda made its first real public appearance during this event and we got incredible feedback from players and devs alike.

This event was specially important because we were able to collaborate and create strong bonds with other developers and artists that still endure to this day. We were also able to share some of our know-how with the people that attended the forum and our stand.

Another important highlight was the invitation we received from Dribbble El Salvador to participate in their International Interactive Design Day congress (IXDD) celebrated in Applaudo Studios. During this amazing experience our CEO, Juan Pablo Bolaños, was able to share some insight and tips about the Video Game Industry, specifically mobile game metrics, game design and commercialization.

 

The Gunstone Team had a stand there, where attendants interacted with our games and had a great time challenging and engaging each other. Attendants were especially surprised by Fire Panda, Vector Squad and Ark Defenders. During this event it became particularly clear that young people and university students are getting more and more interested in working in the digital industries.

Around this time our CEO was invited to talk in the international congress ‘New Age, New Business’ organized by Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador. In his conference titled «Technology and Entertainment: Building new roads in the Global Markets», Juan Pablo talked about the challenges we have tackled as a studio and the different strategies que followed in order to become viable competitors in the international market.

Particularly, finding valuable strategic partners and striving to always meet the international quality standards that they require. In order to do this, we have to trust in our teammates, keep learning and staying alert to catch nuances and changes in the market and in our industry worldwide.

Gunstone’s achievements did not go unnoticed and one of our artists, Anibal García, was invited to impart a conference and workshop in Universidad de El Salvador. The name of this conference was ‘Graphic Arts applied to Video Games: the role of the Artist and the Creative Process’. In this workshop / conference he was able to talk about his experience in creating amazing art for the Gunstone Games and its complex yet rewarding process. He talked about creating unforgettable characters like Hóng the Red Panda, and how the artist has to be in constant communication with the development team in order to create useful and engaging art that works well with the entire ecosystem.

 

 

International Fairs and Events.

Gunstone Studios was able to attend one of the biggest Video Game Events in the world, the GDC (Game Development Conference) in San Francisco, California. This experience proved to be invaluable to us, as we were able to make key connections and contacts from all around the world and in all levels within the video game industry.

We also obtained valuable input and feedback on our games from people and professionals with various backgrounds and from all around the world. This input helped us greatly in improving our existing portfolio and finding the key elements we still needed to focus on in order to engage audiences from across the globe.

During this amazing week-long experience we were also able to personally meet the amazing team from Rogue Games, which has become such a valuable ally in our business and with whom we have published two titles with a third coming soon!

Media Coverage.

This year was particularly interesting because we were covered in various media outlets in El Salvador and in the United States. We were interviewed by local channels and by Univisión and also by local newspapers. This experience proved to be amazing and invaluable, since they provided a reach we did not have and through which we were able to contact amazing clients and partners.

This also served to showcase the amazing talent from our team. Here are some of the media coverage pieces (Click on the Image to go to the original piece):

 

Epilogue.

As you can see, this year was a total blast! We had a lot of fun, we achieved many things and reached personal and team milestones. The entire team grew, as individuals, professionals and human beings. We were able to share our work and our ideas with people from all around the world. This makes us feel super proud of our work and our friendship, within the team.

the whole Gunstone Team would like to thank our players, our partners and our families for these amazing two years and especially for this previous one, which exceeded all our expectations and made us realize we can shoot for the stars!