Midjiwan AB is the developer behind The Battle of Polytopia. Some of us are familiar with The Battle of Polytopia because of its long-standing success, the environmental initiatives of its developer, Elon Musk’s admiration for it, or simply because we played it. It’s a game that not only transcends platforms but also stands against the test of time. We interviewed Christian Lövstedt, the General Manager of Midjiwan AB, and asked about all of those. We thank him for the interview and leave you to it.
Can you tell us about yourself and your role in Midjiwan?
I am in charge of managing the business and marketing in the company. Additionally, I am a Board Member of the Association of Swedish Game Developers. I’m incredibly passionate about the national games industry and the role Midjiwan plays within it.
Can you tell us about the company? What are its principles, what drives the company to make games, and what it strives to offer gamers?
We’re the indie developer behind The Battle of Polytopia: an award-winning 4x strategy game. Although mobile is the most popular way to play, we’ve also branched out to Steam, Nintendo Switch, and even Tesla cars! We are very keen on creating a great game for players to enjoy rather than focusing on how much revenue we can extract from each player.
Can you share insights into the journey of The Battle of Polytopia, from its inception as a Flash game in 2016 to its current status with over 20 million downloads globally?
The Battle of Polytopia was first created as a personal project by its designer, Felix af Ekenstam. Felix couldn’t find a 4x strategy game like Polytopia, so he decided to design one himself! Originally made as a Flash game, the game was released on the App Store and Google Play in 2016. Since then, we’ve continued to build a company around the game’s success whilst adding regular updates such as our recent Naval expansion. In between, we’ve opened a handmade merchandise store in Stockholm and even sponsored the National Swedish chess team! Polytopia has truly become a gaming IP.
The game’s success on mobile is impressive, given its 4x strategy genre. How did you overcome the challenges associated with translating complex mechanics to a mobile-friendly format?
Felix’s game design process has always been to simplify the interface as much as possible. This naturally lends itself well to mobile, where large buttons are positioned for players to press with ease. The challenge for us was finding ways to make the threshold low for new players to learn the game and gradually introduce more complexity and strategic depth in the gameplay. It was also a challenge changing the mobile nature of the game into editions on Switch and Steam.
The Battle of Polytopia stands out by offering expansions and cosmetics for purchase without aggressive monetization. How did you strike a balance between monetization and maintaining a skill-based, player-friendly approach?
As well as being game makers, we’re also regular players of mobile games. When we set prices, we make them based on what we’d personally pay for game expansions. It sounds simple, but by viewing our players as people and not numbers, we feel that we’ve maintained a good balance!
The Battle of Polytopia was added as a feature of Tesla cars. How did this collaboration come about, and what unique challenges or opportunities did it present?
As a public fan of the game, Elon Musk got in touch with us directly about including the game in their cars. As the Tesla entertainment hub runs on a Linux-based interface, the biggest challenge for us was optimizing the game to run smoothly.
Despite its remarkable success, Midjiwan remains a small studio. How does the studio handle the challenges of managing a globally recognized game with a small team?
Having a streamlined approach to game design also applies to the size of our team. We feel that a large team adds more complexity to everyday work. As such, each team member works across several roles and ‘‘wears many different hats”. Plus, a small team lets everyone leave their mark on the game, and we always know what each other is working on.
Can you share your perspective on the challenges and opportunities for independent game developers in the evolving game industry?
Today’s indie game environment is very tough as it’s a game in itself to get visibility amongst the hundreds of new daily releases. Our advice for developers is to work on a game that you personally feel is missing in the market. In our experience, make sure to keep playing the game you’re creating and take out the parts you’re not enjoying. If you keep coming back for more, then you are on to something!
What inspired Midjiwan to support environmental initiatives like the investment in solar power projects and support for reforestation efforts?
We believe that there’s more to game-making than generating profits for our own pockets. This thinking has led us to invest a portion of our profits into causes that the team feels are important.
Do you have a message that you would like to convey to the players who have contributed to The Battle of Polytopia’s success, and what can they expect from Midjiwan in the future?
Our main message for players is a simple one: “Thank you!”. As for The Battle of Polytopia, we have an extensive list of features in the works, as we’re committed to continually improving the game. We recently released our fourth skin pack with a trio of new skins. Our latest major update was “Path of the Ocean”, where we enhanced the naval features of the game. We’ll be releasing more content in the future as part of our ongoing goal to make Polytopia the best turn-based strategy in the history of games!
Christian Lövstedt
General Manager, Midjiwan AB
