Making Games for Prime Video: Eduardo J. Reyes Interview

It's always great to see the different types of games people make with GDevelop. From hobbyist to teachers and professional developers, the GDevelop community is diverse, varied and incredibly talent. Today, we'll talk to Eduardo J. Reyes. Eduardo has used GDevelop to make 2 games for Prime Video (one to promote The Boys, the other to promote Invincible). We talk about making games with GDevelop, what it is like working with a client like Prime Video, how to use free assets and easy software to make games faster, and more. Without further ado, here's Eduardo J. Reyes.

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GDevelop: Hello Eduardo! Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today. Let's get to it! How long have you been creating games for?

Eduardo J. Reyes: As a hobbyist, I've been learning GDevelop and making small prototypes for almost two years already.

Professionally, for about three months. I’ve currently created "El Patriota" for The Boys series and "Invencible: La Segunda Oportunidad" for the Invincible series.

You can check them in our website: https://www.slumberparty.games/

I’m currently working on a third one, but I cannot yet speak about it.

GD: There are many game engines out there. Why did you pick GDevelop?

EJR: Because making games is my passion! But the problem I have is that I have an extremely short attention span and despite having coded games in the past in Unity or UE4, It's just too slow to do anything unless you're an organised team of at least five people.

GDevelop is easy to learn and very straight to the point, which lets me focus on actually doing what I love, which is, well, making games!

GD: Did you create the art? If so, what tools did you use?

EJR: No, the art was done by the amazing Wirdoline! (Check her Instagram here)

I've only assisted her on props and overall design decisions.

We currently use Aseprite when doing pixel art, Photoshop when sketching, Illustrator when doing HUD, ToonBoom when animating complicated things and Piskel when prototyping or fixing small things.

GD: How did you make the sound effects and music?

EJR: With passion! Doing music is my favourite part of creating games.

My method for creating any song is to go to looperman.com, choose the loops that I want (check that the loop is copyright free), put them into Reaper and then cut, mix, change the pitch, add some reverb... Until it sounds like a song I would listen to for hours.

For the sounds, there are tons of free sounds in freesound.org.

Reaper is very similar to GDevelop in the way that it is very fast to use. I usually make the all the music and sound FX in one afternoon.

GD: How was the experience of creating a game for a big distributor as a small development team?

EJR: Super exciting and very exhausting, hahaha! But it is super worth it.

Without Wirdoline I wouldn’t be able to create any of our games, since not only does she create the art, but also has a really good eye on game and level design, and a second opinion is super important when your mind is ultra tired from working for twelve plus hours.

GD: Did the process of creating a video game go as you planned?

EJR: Yes, doing tests and learning how to do almost anything in GDevelop for two years paid off.

Also I've got to say that in the past I've worked as a Production Coordinator, so I'm super obsessive with organisation, which probably helped a bit.

One of the things that I realised is that when you work so much on your game, it’s very difficult to give yourself constructive criticism, so I was actually very surprised when I saw how much fun the client and Mayichi (the Youtuber) had when playing "El Patriota" in the official video.

I can't wait for the next gameplay video to come out! It will be uploaded around next month on Amazon Prime Spain's official YouTube channel.

GD: How long did it take you to create the game from start to finish?

EJR: Three weeks, working eight to twelve hours everyday including Saturdays and Sundays for "El Patriota" (I do not recommend that, but I was extremely motivated) and four to eight hours daily for "Invencible: La Segunda Oportunidad".

GD: How did the deal come about? Did you approach Prime Video or did they approach you? How do you pitch a game like this to such a big company?

EJR: We could say that I was very lucky!

My mentor Sergi Vizcaíno, who makes games as well, got contacted by Amazon Prime Spain, but he is working on a lot of other projects lately, so he called me and put me in contact with them.

They liked my portfolio, despite it being super basic they decided to test me by creating the first game and they loved it.

GD: What advice do you have for people who want to create games?

EJR: Learn as much as you can! Open GDevelop and try something new everyday.

When I started learning GDevelop I set myself the goal of learning 51 things that I didn't know how to do.

It was a bit frustrating sometimes, but having versatility on any type of game you make will be super important.

Also, one thing that we tend to say in the university where I teach (LaSalle Ramon Llull, Barcelona): you can be the best at anything, but if “No eres persona” you won’t get any job.

What I mean by “No eres persona” (I don’t think there is a proper translation to this in English) is that you need to learn how to articulate yourself properly and get as much experience as you can by working on a project with a team.

You can only get so far working alone.

I don’t think I would have ever managed to get as far as I am without the help of others. Everything I’ve ever achieved is because someone else has put trust in me and because I never say no to new challenges!

In summary: Yes, work very hard, but also go outside, talk to people, try new things and remember to have fun!

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And there you have it, folks! Work hard, learn something new every day, and interact with fellow creators. The next game for Amazon could be made by you!

Huge thanks to Eduardo J. Reyes for the interview and insight. If you want to try GDevelop, or want to learn one new thing today, click the button below and get started.