Jan Klose is co-founder and Managing Director of Deck13, the company behind Lords of the Fallen and The Surge.

He recently directed the hardcore Action RPG The Surge 2 for PC and consoles.

We caught up with Klose to talk about Deck13 and how subscription services could offer new possibilities for creatively minded indie devs.

PocketGamer.biz: Can you tell us a bit about Deck13?

Jan Klose: Deck13 was founded in Frankfurt in 2001 and created a wealth of games. The company is most known for the action RPGs Lords of The Fallen and The Surge. The Frankfurt team has a size of around 70 people.

What does your role entail?

As a managing director I'm part of running the company, alongside my colleague Mathias. My day to day work is the creative direction of our major productions.

Why did you want to work in the games industry?

This came naturally, I've made videogames since I was a kid. I never wanted to be part of some industry but I did enjoy building up a company. So this is where that took me.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to get into it?

I think it's important to know what really interests you. Working in the industry can take a lot of your time and energy, so you should try to invest it into what you love most. And don't let setbacks bring you down.

What are your thoughts on the industry in the last 12 months?

Especially in Germany I can say that the industry matured. We have more governmental funding support and more larger-scale studios were established. Things are looking better than last year.

What major trends do you predict in the next 12 months?

I think we will see a rise of the different games subscription services and I hope that this means that more big players will invest more into high quality games content. Each subscription service requires great unique content to be produced (and financed). This can be an advantage for creative independent developers.

How has the games industry changed since you first started?

In some way it's still the very same regarding what's fun in a game and how projects are tackled. However it has grown enormously and it does feel more business-y that it did in the past.

Which part of the Connects event are you most looking forward to and why?

Coming from PC and consoles, I enjoy all the specific content for those platforms but I generally like the atmosphere and meeting so many people, that's what always counts most.

At Pocket Gamer Connects London 2020, Jan Klose will head a session called "Building worlds for unique IPs”. For more information, and to book your tickets for the event, click here.