Bitmob: How has the Internet facilitated the development of Xenonauts?

CE: That's simple enough -- Xenonauts would never have happened without it. The Internet allows you to get in touch with a near-limitless amount of talented people. Without that, the critical mass of the team would never have formed.

In "real life," I don't personally know anyone that works in the games industry -- I don't move in those circles. I work in the finance sector. All my networking and recruitment is done online. Without the Internet and the growth of digital distribution systems like Steam, there's no way we would have gotten off the ground.

Bitmob: What would you consider the biggest hurdles to overcome in primarily using the Internet for games development?

CE: Well, the whole “bringing people together” thing can be a double-edged sword. In "real life," people generally don't just disappear. It happens with frightening regularity online. It can be very frustrating when people aren't replying to your emails, and you're relying on them to do something -- you just don't know what's happening. Sometimes you get miscommunications via email that wouldn't occur in a face-to-face arena, too. I'd say the Internet has been a massive boon, but you do need to be careful particularly where money is concerned.

Bitmob: Did you incur a shake-up like this during Xenonaunts's development?

CE: Not particularly...it's more a factor of the natural wastage I mentioned in the recruitment process. People will sometimes seem really keen to help, agree to terms to start work, and then just stop replying to emails.

Other times, they'll do a couple of models or whatever and then vanish with a flimsy reason for doing so: "I've got family problems. I'll be back in a month or two" (read: no he won't). It's a lot worse in the mod scene where team members will literally just vanish off the face of the earth occasionally, but it's not usually anything coordinated. It's just people no longer wanting to take part and not being man enough to actually tell everyone that.

Bitmob: You're quite young; has the Internet made development easier for you in that regard?

CE: I'd say so. The Internet is the great equalizer; it strips away a lot of the immediate preconceptions people might have about you and lets them concentrate on your message. It can be easier to get the point across that way.

The Internet also makes it much easier to be objective about the people you're working with; they get judged on their work and contribution alone, so I don't care if someone is 15 or 25 provided that they are doing their job well and acting in a professional way. I guess it strips away some of the prejudices that hold young people back in the business world, and that can only be a good thing.

That being said, I'm 24 in a couple of weeks, and I've worked in consulting for almost three years now. I know a thing or two about business, and I really don't think I'd have trouble running a physical studio, either. I think the Internet levels the playing field, but at the end of the day you've still got to be able to do your job.

Bitmob: Where do you see Goldhawk if Xenonauts is a success? Would you move more toward traditional development with a physical location or stick to the online management model?

CE: I don't really know. It depends on how much of a success, and it's also somewhat dependent on what the team wanted to do. Eventually I'd like a physical studio; I'm not sure whether we'd move to it immediately. Maybe a hybrid model might work? As I say, though, it depends on how much of a success Xenonauts is.

Check out Xenonauts.com for more information.