Inspiring Conversations with Giancarlo Surla of Paper Crane Games

Today we’d like to introduce you to Giancarlo Surla.

Giancarlo, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States with my family at a young age. We started our immigrant story in Los Angeles but eventually found our way down to North County San Diego in Carlsbad. I was raised by my single mother alongside my two siblings. Growing up through the Eighties and Nineties, I was really into comic books and videogames: two industries that were having a renaissance during those decades. I also loved to draw. I was fortunate to have a couple of art teachers in high school that helped me develop my art skills. I continued to expand my skillset through high school and built a portfolio that got me accepted at Otis College of Art and Design. Although I had every intention of majoring in Illustration and becoming a comic book artist, I was introduced to computer graphics during my first year at Otis and was immediately hooked. The marriage of art and technology was too intriguing, so I found myself in the sophomore graduating class of Otis’ newly-formed Digital Media Department. My first job after college was at a videogame studio in Santa Monica called Black Ops Entertainment. I worked as a character artist on a basketball game called “Street Hoops” and a game based on the X-Files IP called “X-Files: Resist or Serve”. Working at a smaller developer afforded me the opportunity to play a larger role and get my hands dirty during production in spite of being a fresh graduate. It was the perfect environment to learn and gain practical experience.

A few years later, I moved on to start work at an Activision studio called Neversoft. They had developed the Tony Hawk Pro Skater (THPS) series of which I was a huge fan while I was in college. I was hired as a character artist to work on Tony Hawk’s Underground, the first open-world iteration of THPS. I ended up spending the next eleven years working at Neversoft in various roles including: Character Artist, Character Department Lead, and Mission Art Director. I shipped fourteen titles across various franchises such as Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Guitar Hero, and Call of Duty. I look back fondly at my years Neversoft: learning and growing as a game developer in addition to all the lifelong friendships that I made. In 2014, Activision decided to merge two of its studios: Infinity Ward and Neversoft to continue working on Call of Duty. At this point, Oculus had announced its new Virtual Reality (VR) hardware called the Rift. I had always been interested in starting my own shop and the promise of VR was so tantalizing that figured that this would be the perfect time to move on from ‘AAA’ game development and try my hand in the indie scene. By late 2014, I had quit my job and started laying the groundwork for starting my own independent game studio along with a couple of my Neversoft colleagues. It was time for a new adventure. In January of 2015, I officially formed Paper Crane Games along with my two partners: Robert Espinoza and Andrew Marchal. Our studio focused on virtual reality (VR) interactive experiences and we leveraged what we learned at Neversoft along with our industry relationships to hit the ground running.

Our first year was a blur: we were chosen to showcase our work at E3 as part of Indiecade Showcase in addition to working with Activision to create a VR experience based on the latest Call of Duty for Sony’s new Playstation VR hardware. It was an insane amount of work for three people who were just starting their first business. I would be lying if I said that subsequent years went as smoothly; our team was learning through experience and navigating the uncharted waters of VR. Through hard work and luck, we were able to weather through rough waters and found opportunities to work on interesting VR projects across different genres including: healthcare VR therapy, industrial and military simulators, movie tie-ins, and interactive narrative content. We’ve even found some critical recognition such as our work with Cartoon Network on “Cartoon Network Journeys VR” which was nominated for various honors including the Webby Awards. Just like many other businesses, 2020 and the pandemic took a toll on us and our clients. Fortunately, we’ve been able to keep productive through the year and are looking forward to the new creative challenges and opportunities that this next year will bring.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road, but it has been interesting and rewarding one. When we first started the company, I was narrowly focused on the visual art component of game development. However, through the years I’ve had to wear different hats and learn new skillsets out of necessity of running small indie studio. We really are fortunate to live in a world where knowledge is so readily available via books and the internet. Anytime I needed to learn a new skill, it was easy to find a community online willing to share their knowledge. I’ve since grown tremendously as a game developer and am now able to contribute to all stages of the videogame development cycle such as game design, programming, audio, and art. Throw in what I’ve learned in terms of running a business and you’ve got a wealth of on-the-job knowledge that was hard-earned and worth whatever bumps on the road.

We’ve been impressed with Paper Crane Games, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are an indie game studio founded in 2015 specializing in XR experiences (Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality). Our team is composed of industry veterans with decades of AAA console experience working on critically acclaimed games in the Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Guitar Hero, and Call of Duty franchises. We leverage what we’ve learned while developing games across multiple generations of game consoles to bring a level of interaction, immersion, and polish not typically found in other XR experiences. Over the past five years, we’re proud to have created XR experiences across various genres including VR healthcare therapies, industrial training modules, escape rooms, flight simulators, and narrative experiences.

Here are some highlights: – Partnered with Activision to release their first VR experience titled “Call of Duty Infinite Warfare: Jackal Assault” for Sony’s Playstation VR. This experience was featured in Activision’s Call of Duty convention CODXP. – Partnered with Top Right Corner and Blumhouse to create “Belko VR: An Escape Room Experience” to tie in with the major motion picture “The Belko Experiment”. This virtual reality escape room is regarded as one of the most polished and well-realized in the genre. – Developed and designed “Cartoon Network Journeys VR” which combines Cartoon Network’s storytelling and world-building expertise with our game design and interaction skillset to produce a series of narrative experiences. This title was recently nominated for a Webby in the “Best Visual Design” category.

Contact Info:

• Email: contact@papercranegames.com
• Website: www.papercranegames.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/papercranedevs
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/papercranegames
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaperCraneGames

Image Credits:
Belko VR property of Top Right Corner. Call of Duty property of Activision Publishing. Cartoon Network Journeys VR property of Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network Journeys poster created by Brendan Wiuff