Oz Developer Watch is back in August with a look at Torus Games, a game development studio in Victoria that is celebrating its 15-year anniversary this year. Staffed with just over 60 employees, Torus has grown significantly over the years, creating titles for publishers like Warner Bros and Activision. We spoke to head of production Kevin McIntosh about the studio's upcoming projects.

　　Monster Jam was one of Torus's most successful titles.

　　Torus was founded in 1994 by Bill McIntosh, after he left Beam Software to set up his own studio. Starting out working on original IP, the studio soon found themselves in demand for licensed projects; they soon began working on titles including Jurassic Park: The Lost World and Stargate. Since then, the studio has grown to over 60 staff and has developed a formal company structure that sees everyone doing the job they were hired to do.

　　"It has become a real business," Kevin McIntosh said. "Early in any development studio's life everyone wears many hats. So the lead programmer might also be the game designer and CEO, or the lead artist might also be the cleaner and bookkeeper. Over the years we have hired people to specialise in those areas and we now have a proper company structure without becoming top-heavy."

　　Torus's most recent titles have been published by Warner Bros, Majesco, Activision and Leapfrog. Two of the studio's titles have hit the one million copies sold benchmark--Shrek Smash n' Crash Racing, released in 2006, and Monster Jam, released in 2007; both titles were published by Activision. Torus's most recent Monster Jam title, Monster Jam Urban Assault, sold 500,000 copies within the first few months of retail sales in late 2008. The studio is currently working to put the final touches on a Scooby-Doo title for the Wii, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS.

　　Torus Games also developed Activision's Fantastic 4 game for the GBA in 2005.

　　Much of Torus's success however has come primarily from the US market. In fact, nearly all of Torus's titles have been for US publishers, released in the US or worldwide markets, with very few titles specifically made for Australia only. According to McIntosh, this is due to the relatively small size of the Australian market; a factor that won't pose a problem for Aussie-based developers for much longer.

　　"Australia has had some very successful hits over the past two years and is growing in reputation. Our experience in creating games as an industry is really starting to show. What's more, digital distribution channels open up the possibility that developers can take their game straight to market. That area is growing strongly and it means that geographic location won't play a part in where the game is created or sold.

　　"Sure, it's still an expensive risk to create a game and then find a publisher afterwards, so you have to really back your idea. However, there are people starting to publish Australian games to the world, which is what we've needed for a few years. The next step is to find the investment to really give the industry a shot in the arm."

　　McIntosh says the best thing about being an Australian developer and working in the local market is having a community that is supportive and respectful to each other.

　　"People always help to loan equipment if you're short to finish a project, or share projects together. I'm not sure you get that kind of comradeship in other locations. I believe we really show a fighting Australian spirit to prove ourselves as an industry too, and those results from everyone here make you proud to be developing games here and representing Australia."

　　Torus is about to release Scooby Doo! First Frights for the Wii, PS2 and DS.

　　Torus now plans to grow by another 15-20 people over the next year, working systematically to improve efficiency and work load. The studio also aims to enter into more original projects in the near future while maintaining their strong relationship with international publishers.

　　Torus's latest title, Scooby Doo! First Frights, will be out later this year.