Makea Games Transforms Character Creation with Next-Gen Ready Player Me Tools

Supermoves, a fast-paced, pulse-pounding parkour racing game featuring massive multiplayer matches and user-created levels, is set to be released at the end of this month. This creativity-fueled experience has something for everyone—from players aiming to be the fastest speedrunners in the world to those looking to build relaxing hangout spots with the in-game editor. Centered around parkour and self-expression, Supermoves lets players truly express themselves and, thanks to top-notch tools, build anything they want.

The studio behind Supermoves is Finland-based, and backed by Play Ventures and FOV Ventures Makea Games, a small team of ten led by CEO, Creative Director, and Founder Tomi Toikka. The team isn’t driven by egos; they’re simply excited to collaborate with the community to create games using their tools. For them, it’s all about building fun games that unleash creativity, and that’s exactly what they aim to accomplish with Supermoves—empowering gamers to build their own games using just a controller.

Makea has grown as a team since their inception in 2022, but given the novelty of developing a user-generated game, the process to bring Supermoves to life was not without its challenges.

One of the most significant hurdles? How to extend their vision of player-driven creativity across all aspects of the game, especially in character creation. “Making player characters is hard. Adding new characters, clothes, and accessories is a tremendous burden on a tiny team,” says Toikka. For a small studio like Makea Games, the traditional process of character creation is a resource-intensive endeavor, often requiring a disproportionate amount of time and effort relative to the size of the development team.

This is where Ready Player Me's tools came into play. Toikka’s enthusiasm for Ready Player Me was sparked at the Nordic Game 2024 conference, where he first encountered their new toolset. “When I got a demo of the node editor for Ready Player Me’s new toolset, I was instantly hooked. It didn’t take long for us to sign after that,” he recalls.

Ready Player Me’s next-gen tools let Makea upload custom game characters and create their character wearables using the node-based editor that automatically morph to the character.

The tools not only enable the creation of character wearables but, more notably, address the entire end-to-end process—from asset creation and customization to real-time delivery within the game environment. Activating assets in the Ready Player Me Developer Studio triggers an API call that delivers the asset to the game in real time—an automation that spares the Makea team valuable manpower.

Witnessing this streamlined process impressed Toikka with its ease of use and ability to save the team valuable time. The efficiency allowed the development team to quickly test different skins and cosmetics within the game environment, helping them better understand player preferences and tailor content accordingly. "This opens up many new possibilities for our team to experiment with ways for users to express themselves," Toikka says.

This partnership with Ready Player Me is more than just a technical integration; it’s a strategic move to balance creative ambition with the practical realities of game development. Driven by a shared commitment to enhance player immersion, Makea Games aims to elevate the player experience in Supermoves by adding depth to the characters, aligning with the fantasy of being the ultimate parkour champion.

Ready Player Me’s next-gen tools empower smaller studios like Makea to offer top-tier customization without the massive resources larger studios possess. This collaboration reflects a growing trend of smaller studios leveraging specialized tools to overcome development challenges and deliver innovative experiences. “We feel any kind of toolset that makes that process easier and more accessible is the key,” says Toikka.

Reflecting on the collaboration and what’s to come, Toikka notes, "As the industry turmoil continues, it’s really important to find ways to work together better. I would wholeheartedly recommend Ready Player Me for game developers looking to integrate characters to their game. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel and the toolset we’ve been given is great for the job."

Supermoves gears up for its full release on August 28th, 2024, but players can already experience the game through a demo available on Steam. The future looks bright for Makea Games, with plans for regular content updates and new level-building props.