Mike Levine's a case in point.
Starting out back in the days of Lucasfilm Games on titles such as Sam & Max Hit the Road, he left games, co-founding a special effects outfit, then moving on and setting up a service provision company.
On that basis, he worked with the likes of Hasbro and Mattel, creating virtual online worlds, but it's mobile gaming that now has his attention with new studio HappyGiant.
The Unity-based developer has two titles in development; both as different as their names suggest - Dolphin Paradise: Wild Friends and Usagi Yojimbo: Way Of The Ronin.
"We're mixing it up," Levine agrees.
Warm waters
Dolphin Paradise - the first of what Levine hopes will be a Wild Friends series - brings a similar level of quality to the nurturing genre as NaturalMotion achieved with MyHorse.
"We took a conscious decision to do something different, not another 2D isometric game," Levine explains.
Focused initially on iPad, he says that as parents are increasingly giving their kids with access to such devices, there's plenty of opportunity to bring richer and more immersive experiences to a genre previously dominated by cookie-cutter pets games.
D.I.Y.
In parallel, HappyGiant has also decided to self publish the free-to-play title.
Having checked out the various publishing and partnership deals available, Levine says he's sure self publishing is right for HappyGiant.
"If you're forced to go with some of these publishers, I think it's dark times, darker than publishing on console," he argues.
"You're giving away a chunk of revenue, and you're reliant on their analytics. It's right for some developers, and we're happy to look for future partnerships, but we want to build our own customer base."
Sharp edge
As for Usagi Yojimbo (aka Rabbit Bodyguard), it's what Levine calls a "forgotten treasure" in the back catalog of comic book publisher Dark Horse.
HappyGiant is working on a side-scrolling melee action title based on the licence: it will be the first Usagi game for 25 years. It's due out for iOS, Android and desktop before the end of 2012.
"It's all about trying different things and seeing what happens. We're taking a risk self publishing, but everyone is experimenting at the moment," Levine says.
"If you believe in your product, that's the path to success."
