We ended 2019 with a great achievement and the success of our first Kickstarter! And we were also presented with many challenges and goals to reach during 2020.
Infinity Defiance, our dungeon crawler, exceeded all our expectations thanks to the support received by you - our customers, and our fans.
This year has been a series of challenges for all the departments at Corvus Belli. The global pandemic has made it difficult for us, but we have tried to get everything on course despite the difficulties.
We have made mistakes - we are human- and it has helped us to learn and to continue improving our processes and implement improvements for future projects.
Corvus Belli, as part of our transparency policy, wants you to know about the challenges that the team faced during the development of Defiance, and how it has helped them grow both personally and professionally.
In the words of Fer (Lord Commander) “From my point of view as Lord Commander, Defiance's Kickstarter has been a tremendous challenge - only comparable to an assault on The Wall by a horde of wildlings at night in a blizzard. We have great captains here, used to fighting in the most hostile conditions, but their coordination - especially in the toughest moments of the assault was complicated. Wounded pride, stress, tired troops fighting on numerous flanks… and we finally triumphed by working as a team. These strenuous battles are the best teachers, giving us the skills and experience to face future raids with confidence."
For David Anta (Head of Factory and Logistics and coordinator of the Defiance project), the key to the success of this project that we have been working on since 2018, was due to prior experiences at Corvus Belli “At the project management level, we have far exceeded our own expectations and hopefully also those of the backers when they have the game in their hands. At the manufacturing level, we have manufactured more than 325,000 miniatures in what we consider record time. All of this during a pandemic, while continuing to manufacture our regular products, all the while producing a new edition of Infinity.
For our project coordinator, it has also been a big step to “have finally immersed ourselves in the Kickstarter universe that provides the possibility of doing very interesting projects and that would otherwise be unthinkable”.
We would like to thank the human team at the Corvus Belli workshop who has been responsible for the great work in the production of Defiance despite all the challenges that took place in 2020.
For the Game development team (composed by Alberto Abal, Jesús Fuster, and Marcos Bello) Defiance “has been a tour de force that pushed the resources of the entire development team to their limit and has allowed us to expand on an exciting and fun mechanic”. Designing a dungeon-crawler from scratch is no easy task, and without them, Infinity Defiance simply would not exist!
Defiance, like any other product made by Corvus Belli, is born from the Infinity universe so the characters and their story had to be integrated into it. This is what Gutier Lusquiños (Infinity's setting and background writer) dealt with when writing the background texts of the various Defiance characters.
This integration also influenced the visual side of the project. The Art and sculpture Department sums it up as a "stimulating" experience: "Defiance has been a great opportunity to show our best in different areas" notes Carlos Torres (Art manager). The great work done by the sculptors Antonio Moreira and José Pedrosa is outstanding!
"We are proud of our teamwork"
"We are proud of our teamwork," points out Luis González (Design Department Manager) - and he is completely right! Luis, Hugo Rodriguez, and Jonathan Pardo gave their 110 percent in adapting to every moment to what was required of them - demonstrating exactly why they are such a great team.
While the last details of the product design were being finalized, the Marketing campaign began. After a long planning period and measuring each marketing action, the small Marketing team (consisting of Belén Moreno, Carlos Morales, Inma Lage, Vanessa, *and *Carlos Llaguer) carried out a strategy of 5 intensive weeks to capture the attention of the community. For Belén (Marketing manager) this was the key element: "in Corvus Belli, we are fortunate to have incredible and very demanding fans. Managing the emotions of those demanding fans was also a challenge for the whole team, as we wanted to live up to the expectations generated, and we did not want to fail them - so we put a lot of effort into paying attention to them and taking care of our community of players”.
Once the crowdfunding period had come to an end, we had to get down to business and get the product out in record time. For the Mold department, Defiance was a very big workload. In addition to the manufacture of all the products that we usually produce was "a challenge, and an amazing achievement to have managed it correctly" said Alex Quinteiro (Head of Molds department).
For the sales manager, Mar Larrea, it was complicated. She had just landed at Corvus Belli and was soon engulfed in kickstarter's maelstrom and entrusted with the relationship with stores and distributors. She pointed out that the help of her peers was crucial in her quickly adapting to the new job:
"What I felt was good vibes, a lot of enthusiasm and, a great work behind the project."
Although adapting to this new process of doing business has not been easy for anyone. The Administration Department has had to conduct specific prior research to accommodate this new type of project. "Managing a crowdfunding project is fiscally different from any usual turnover and the overall activity of the company. With such a small administrative department (composed by Mari Araujo and Nuria Gayoso), we all needed to give 110 percent of ourselves to reach the goals we set " said Mari (Accounting Technician)
In case there was any doubt, the job doesn't end here. We still have a lot to do. For departments such as Orders and Purchases, the process does not close until EVERYTHING reaches its destination (your homes!). Bego Liste says
"2021 is already fully scheduled!"
These have been some of the experiences lived in our facilities during the project. The most repeated words among the team have been "rollercoaster of emotions" and "stress", but also "satisfaction" and "pride".
All departments of Corvus Belli have been involved in this great project, making coordination and communication between them more necessary than ever, even coming to merge departments to carry out tasks. Quite a challenge we've come out of stronger and more united!
During 2021 we will continue to work so that Infinity Defiance is in your homes and you can enjoy it as much as we did.
Thank you very much to all of you who believed in this great project.
