Interview with Mr. Jason Chess, developer of "Hawstone", a super popular game, "Necessary for the Japanese to be active in the e-sports epidemic in Japan"

Digital Strategy Card Game offered by Blizzard "Hearthstone (Hearthstone)"Japan Summer Championship was held in Akihabara. By winning at the Japan Summer Championships, we were able to participate in the 'Haasstone World Championship' with a total prize of 1 million dollars (about 100 million yen), so each player played an exciting game and the venue showed great excitement. Mr. Jason Chess, who is head of Hairstone 's development at the Japanese summer championship, came and heard about Hearthstone and e - sports in Japan.

Hearthstone: Hairstone Official Game Site
http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/ja/

Hearthstone Japan Summer Championship - Hearthstone
http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/ja/blog/20226911

The interview report of the Haasstone Japan Summer Championship can be confirmed from the following articles.

The largest e-sports event in Japan "Haasstone Japan Summer Championship" leading to a worldwide event with a prize of 100 million yen Reporting interview - GIGAZINE


Mr. Chase, who is a production director at Haasstone, is responsible for the development team's management, process development and strategy execution. Sometimes you may order pizza when the development team is hungry.


GIGAZINE (hereinafter, G):
First of all, I will ask about Hairstone. It is a hearthstone where the Japan Summer Championship was held and it is showing great excitement, but what kind of point of Hairstone do you think is suitable for e sports? What is the interestingness of Hearthstone's e-sports?

Mr. Jason Chase (Chase):
Haasstone is a card game, so the deployment of the game is very slow compared to FPS and fighting games. Therefore, even people who see e sports for the first time have the feature that it is easy to understand what is going on. In addition, it is also characterized that the rules are simple enough to understand Haasuton in 5 minutes even for those who play for the first time. However, strategy is very important because it is simple. I think that it is pleasurable to see these highly strategic attacks.

It is interesting just to see what kind of card the player takes and what kind of card to use. Herstone is a state where the audience sees the so-called hand. So, while watching your hand, you can learn "You can also play like this", and you can think that "I would not cut that card if I were you." The fun of born out of Hairstone's strategy can be felt by both players and audiences. I think that such part is suitable for e sports.

G:
I see. I am very thankful that even beginners can play immediately. In Japan there is the impression that e sports has not penetrated so far compared with the West. What kind of things do you think is necessary for e sports to gain popularity beyond now in Japan?

Chase
The important thing is that the Japanese champion will be active in the world competition. I think that it is necessary to have a role model that can convey the enjoyment of e-sports through tournaments and conventions.


G:
Are you a Japanese player now, close to that position?

Chase
As a Japanese playerKnoThat is a player. Kno got the best 4 in the Haasstone World Championship final tournament held in November 2015. When Japanese players achieve good results at the world championships, I think that e-sports's popularity will rise and popularity will come out as well. That's why today's Haasstone Japan Summer Championship is very important. I am praying that today's champion will be active in the world championship. Please do your best, everyone!

G:
Please tell us about the development of Hairstone. Haasstone is released on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android platform, but has any difficulties in developing on different platforms?

Chase
That's a really good question. We blizzard has released games on PC from long ago, but if you are developing with PC only, you can distribute updates and defect fixes immediately with patch. However, it will not work if deployed on many platforms like Haasstone. It is necessary for Apple and Google to review patch distribution and it is very hard to coordinate around here. Also making PC and smartphone exactly the same UI design is a trial and error trial. I can do this with a PC, but I developed a UI to allow the same experience on any platform, not a smartphone.

G:
Have you already decided to deploy it in e sports during the development stage?

Chase
At the time of release, the deployment in e sports was not decided. After releasing Haas Stone, there were a lot of requests among users "It's absolutely fun to make Hairstone e Sports!" It is a feeling that there is a story to develop in e sports from feedback of such community.

G:
Is there any added functionality in deploying with e Sports?

Chase
"Spectator Mode" which allows you to see the battle of friends registered in the list has been added. This is exactly the function for e sports.

G:
I see. Herstone is also evolving according to e sports. Please do not hesitate to ask questions that are not related to Herstone a little from here. Is there a thing that Mr. Chase was influenced by the Japanese game _

Chase:
I think most people think so, it is a game of Nintendo. Especially I love "Ocarina of The Legend of Zelda". After that, I often played Namco's "Soul Edge" and "Soul Calibur".


G:
Do you like fighting games?

Chase:
I am not as good as I used to but now I love it. By the way, Seoul Calibur often used Son Mina.

G:
So, in the current Japanese game, is there something like 'would this be interesting if you deploy it in e sports?'

Chase:
For example, fighting games such as Capcom's street fighter have long been popular as e-sports. EVO is held every year as a street fighter, and indeed some of Haasstone's development staff also participate in the competition.

E Games suitable for sports must first be "looking and having fun". And it is easy to start playing, but I think that it is also very difficult to master it. This is a tremendously important factor in the game developed by e sports.

G:
Please give a message to the reader of GIGAZINE at the end.

Chase:
Thank you so much for supporting Hairstone. I am truly grateful to have been able to compete in Haasstone in Japan. Japan occupies a very important position in Blizzard's strategy. People who have never played Haas Stone are also simply designed to allow anyone to play Herstone, so I am very happy to have them play.

Hearthstone: Hearthstone on the App Store
https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/hearthstone-hasusuton/id625257520

Hearthstone: Hearthstone - Google Play Android application
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blizzard.wtcg.hearthstone