A Purrspective into Neko Ghost, Jump!

Neko Ghost, Jump! is a deceptively straightforward puzzle-platformer scheduled for release later this year for PC on Steam and the Epic Games Store. Victor Burgos, of Burgos Games, was kind enough to take a break from unpacking to meet with Qweerty on June 23rd to talk about his creation. He also discussed what his hopes are for the game, his hopes for Burgos Games, and what it’s like for him as a minority developer.

Originating as an idea for a May 2019 Game Jam submission, Neko easily brings to mind classic platformers like Mario Bros. or Pitfall. This isn’t surprising since Victor proudly says he grew up on the 80s consoles like NES and Atari. The theme for the 2019 game jam was “The Other Side of the Coin” and Victor thought he had the perfect response. “Typically you only have a 2D platformer or a 3D platformer,” he said. “Same thing with your body, you have either a ghost form or a physical form, which is where the switching idea came from.”

Neko is the best of all four, enabling the player to switch from 2D to 3D, and physical to ghost form, repeatedly as they go. Victor knew he had a winning idea on his hands. “I gathered the team after the game jam. I said ‘I think we can do this, polish this up, finish it up in about a year, and just push it.” Then he chuckles, “Well… it’s been two years. So obviously that goal did not happen.”

Rather than just give up after missing the deadline for submission, Victor decided to carry through. “I wanted something that was gonna be quick, easy to launch because this was gonna be Burgos Games’ first commercial release. So I wanted to get my feet into the water, get into a really easy genre I could get done, even if I didn’t have a big team at worst it was something I could get done on my own.”

As the only full-time employee currently Victor credits his support staff for much of the final scope and polish of the game. “I do have help, and without them, I wouldn’t be in the position I am today,” he said. He even emphasized the role contract labor and outsourcing has within the industry, “Long story short, including the contractors the team size is nine now. And ya know, they get credited in the game but nobody really talks about the support teams. Without them we wouldn’t be where we are.” When asked, Victor was candid about finding representation within the gaming industry. “As a developer, I want to be as diverse outside the game as well as inside the game, but it’s super-tough,” he said. He notes with resignation that much of that lack of diversity can be traced back to the limited pool developers have to draw from, “I definitely want a more diverse team, and we used to have a 50/50 gender split even though they’re mostly white… but you have to get what you get when you’re looking for experience.” A key problem being that, although minority representation organizations exist, they’re sparse. “There was a Latinx Games Festival and that was great for us, getting coverage,” he said, “But other than that there’s not much for Latinx or even Hispanics really.”

That limited pool of experienced programmers means it frequently falls to minority members within the industry to insert themselves into their work, “I’ve had to throw stuff forcefully in there, like with different skins. The first additional skin we had was a Puerto Rican skin because I’m Puerto Rican. We have an Australian on the team so I had her do an Australian skin…” he said. Of course, this can also mean asking uncomfortable questions not every employee wants to answer, a concern

Victor also acknowledged. “I don’t know if we have anyone who identifies as LGBTQ+ on the team, but I also don’t want to make anybody on the team uncomfortable and force them out of the closet either.” Victor’s willingness to think beyond standard design expectations will hopefully pay off for him on release, which is scheduled for 2021 on PC and, ideally, shortly after on Switch. With his first game out, Victor has no plans to slow down. “What I would love to do is have a one to the two-year production cycle,” he said. “My dream game, my end goal, would be to get an MMO out in the next ten to 20 years.” We look forward to seeing what the future has in store for him. For those interested in seeing the trailer for Neko Ghost, Jump!, it’s available on YouTube or you can visit the company’s website and wishlist the game on Steam or Epic Games Store.