In keeping with the trend for cross-platform gaming, US studio Digital Harmony was hard at work during 2011 developing its Harmony Tech engine.

It's cross-platform real-time multiplayer technology that it expects to extend the genre beyond turn-based gameplay.

The seven strong-team, working out of the bustling mobile social game hub that is Austin, Texas, doesn't want be be labeled as a tech firm, however, having just released its first game Chin Up on Android, iOS and browsers.

We caught up with COO and co-founder Keren Kang to find out more about the company and how work was coming along on its latest projects.

Pocket Gamer: Can you tell us a little about Digital Harmony Games?

Keren Kang: DHG was originally founded with the vision to solve a major problem we identified in the mobile space - pure, unadulterated, cross-platform multiplayer gaming that actually works.

Since then, our young company has had quite the journey. We started the company off with an established team in place, consisting of 10 developers in China.

We realised early on that two offices thousands of miles away from each other will never work in a startup environment. My co-founder and I parted ways with the overseas team - going from a healthy group of 16 down to a sad lonely team of two.

With no funding and no team, we thought we had hit rock bottom.

We furiously set off to create a business plan, an executive summary, and posted excessive amounts of craigslist job ads for a CTO - all the ingredients to getting in the door for VC or angel investment.

What was it like trying to get investment?

Every day was a roller coaster … and with every down trough, we surpassed a new level in terms of understanding the phrase 'rock bottom'.

The phrase should really be 'I've hit black hole bottom' because that's how it's really like.

We tried the VC and angel circuit. The only thing is VCs and angels don't want game developers.

They want technology, and we had a great idea - allow any smartphone to play against each other in real-time. Not turn-based, not 'visit my house any time you want, real multiplayer, 'I see exactly what you're doing' real-time.

We developed the backend technology, patented the process, and brought on a dedicated team of five people - all within six months, and on zero paychecks.

But it stopped being fun. We saw ourselves heading toward the dark, dull, mundane tunnel of the technology development world.

To revive our nerdy game dev natures, we made Chin-Up, a simple, hilarious, light-hearted game that was a blast to develop. We got our mojo back.

Today, DHG has manifested into what we should have concentrated on since the beginning - make fun games. And that's what we'll do. Make fun games and hey, if it can use our backend tech, we'll use it.

Why is cross-platform gameplay important in the mobile space?

This is a question to which several people have attempted to provide a finite answer, but I'm going to take the 'flower child' approach and say that every game is unique.

If it can benefit from cross-platform real-time play, it's very important - especially in a multiplayer setting. Nothing is more aggravating than when there is nobody to play against.

Limiting audiences to a single device can be the downfall of a multiplayer game. But in a single player game - nobody cares.

And it's my belief that there will always be a space for single player games.

What does Harmony Tech bring to the table that other cross-platform engines don't?

Proven demonstration of actual real-time cross-platform multiplayer play.

Also, Harmony Tech means to sit on top of existing engines as a middleware.

How is work coming along on your big game Dragons vs Unicorns?

It's such a fun title. It's as if Dragons vs Unicorns has a living, breathing personality. We have such whimsical characters that are jammed packed with humour, cuteness, and badass-ery.

It's an ambitious product. There's still much to be done, and tons of balancing to perfect. It's getting there, and we're excited.

Your most recent game Chin-Up has just been released. What have you learned from it?

Everything. The most important thing we learned was integrating other SDKs.

All the seemingly hyped up SDKs for mobile ad networks and services are actually all they're cracked up to be, and very deserving of hype.

What's your opinion about HTML5 and its important for cross-platform gaming?

I wouldn't say it's important as much as it is another option for cross-platform gaming development.

We will be keeping an eye out.
Thanks to Keren for her time.

You can keep up-to-date with Digital Harmony via its website, and get an idea how the tech works below.