Back before HBO turned George R.R. Martin into a household name by adapting his Song of Ice and Fire novels for TV, a relatively unknown gaming company called Disrupter Beam convinced the author to let them adapt his books as a mobile game: Game of Throne Ascent. BostInno brings us the story of Ascent came about. It’s an American success story built on hard work, passion, and a little bit of luck.
Husband-and-wife team Jon Radoff and Angela Bull founded Disruptor Beam around 2010. Initially, the studio worked on such products as a 50-Cent-branded blackjack game for Facebook, but Radoff had higher ambitions. Long a fan of interactive storytelling, he was itching to adapt something with a plot. He was a fan of the Song of Ice and Fire novels, and thought would make a great foundation.
"I thought that if I was going to really innovate on story, the right way to do it was bring that innovation into a world that people were already in love with. Game of Thrones gave us the ability to go into that world while giving us a canvas to try some ideas."
Again, this was before Game of Thrones hit the air in 2011. To achieve his dreams, Radoff first had to meet with George R.R. Martin and try to get him to agree to license the mobile game rights to him. First, he managed to get himself introduced to literary agent Vince Gerardis, hoping that Gerardis might know a guy who knew a guy who knew Martin. As luck would have it, Gerardis was Martin’s agent, and had just sold the TV rights to A Song of Ice and Fire to HBO.
(Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
Radoff pitched Geradis his idea for a game that kept all the things that made Martin’s books interesting—politics, moral ambiguity, death—intact, but which could work in the context of a phone or tablet. That got him an invitation to meet with Martin himself. But even then, Radoff still had a lot of convincing to do, particularly because licensed games don’t have a reputation for quality.
"I had to spend that first year explaining this vision for both being authentic to the source material, but also creating a game that would be truly sustainable. Both of these elements were important to HBO, as well as George: building the franchise and keeping fanbase invested. It took a lot of convincing, but I was an experienced entrepreneur so that was definitely helpful."
Finally, roughly a month before Game of Thrones debuted on HBO, Radoff met Martin in his Santa Fe home. After demonstrating his commitment to keeping the spirit of Martin’s books alive, he received the author’s blessing. “He saw that I got that and I think that’s what convinced him that we had the authenticity to pull it off,” he said. Months later, contracts were signed, and Disruptor Beam was off and running.
Radoff met Martin two more times before the game’s release in early 2013. Martin had a couple suggestions to contribute to the game before it’s launch. You can probably guess one of them:
"More people need to die in this game."
Ascent launched to widespread critical acclaim, and has racked up 11 million downloads to date. It’s success provided Disruptor Beam with the street cred needed to land other popular franchises, like Star Trek. Like players on Game of Thrones Ascent, Radoff made the right moves and climbed the ladder.
If you’ve never played Ascent, climbing the ladder is key. Players create their own house, choose allegiances, and manage resources. They get to interact with their favorite Thrones characters on their way to the Iron Throne. Hopefully, the game works out as well for the player as it did for Radoff and Disruptor Beam.