Published in the October 26, 2016 edition

LOCAL VIDEO GAME DEVELOPERS Bill and Amanda Gardner are looking to release their new North Shore-based horror video game Perception early next year. The Gardners are co-founders The Deep End Games. (Courtesy Photo)

LOCAL VIDEO GAME DEVELOPERS Bill and Amanda Gardner are looking to release their new North Shore-based horror video game Perception early next year. The Gardners are co-founders The Deep End Games. (Courtesy Photo)

By DAN TOMASELLO

LYNNFIELD — A local video game developer is going to release a brand new video game early next year.

Video game developer Bill Gardner co-founded the video game company The Deep End Games along with his wife Amanda. The company is currently putting the finishing touches on its new North Shore-based horror game Perception. Amanda is the writer and producer at The Deep End Games while Bill serves as the company’s CEO/creative director.

“We are very excited,” said Bill Gardner. “We are looking to release the game around March. The light is at the end of the tunnel.”

Perception is a first person narrative horror adventure about a blind woman named Cassie, who flies from Phoenix, Arizona to the fictional Echo Bluff estate in Gloucester because she is looking for answers to the nightmares that have been plaguing her dreams. While at the haunted mansion, Cassie is terrorized by a villain called The Presence.

Gardner said Cassie doesn’t have an arsenal of weapons at her disposal and is forced to use her cane, smartphone and wits. Game players have to use these tools to search for clues while trying to navigate Cassie’s way around the mansion. However, the haunted house and the deadly Presence go to great lengths to prevent their secrets from being released. The home and The Presence also won’t let Cassie leave.

Perception requires video gamers to use echolocation and their wits to navigate Cassie’s way throughout the haunted mansion because Cassie is blind. In order to survive the deadly game of hide-and-seek, game players must remain quiet to make sure The Presence does not discover Cassie.

During an interview with the website IndieHangover, Gardner said Cassie’s use of echolocation was inspired in part by a TED talk given by Daniel Kish, who uses and teaches people how to use echolocation in order to navigate the world. He had dinner with Kish to discuss how he uses sonar on a daily basis.

“It was an amazing experience,” said Gardner. “It really helped inform the game.”

Gardner said he is looking forward to showing the world Perception.

“We have a novel concept,” said Gardner. “We are trying to create something that is going to turn heads.”

Gardner has been busy promoting the game before its release early next year. He recently returned home from Los Angeles after promoting the game at IndieCade, an international festival that promotes independent video game companies. He also appeared at the Boston Festival of Indie Games last month, and Perception won Best in Show and Best Narrative/World Builder awards.

“It was a nice surprise,” said Gardner. “It’s a lot of work when you get into video game development and it’s uplifting when you get recognized.”

Gardner said he enjoyed interacting with gamers during the festivals and listening to ways Perception can be improved.

“I really value feedback,” said Gardner.

Perception is also gaining attention from different publications. The horror website Bloody Disgusting named the video game as one of the 15 most anticipated crowd-funded horror games earlier this year. Perception was also included on the cover of IGN magazine recently.

“It’s one of the biggest nerd culture sites out there,” said Gardner about IGN.

Perception was also featured in the October issue of Unwinnable Monthly.

Gardner said Perception is going to be released as a PC game but said The Deep End Games is working with Sony and Microsoft to bring Perception to Playstation 4 and Xbox One, respectively.

“This needs to be special,” said Gardner. “We are masters of own fate and it’s our calling. We want to do it right.”

Gardner has been involved in the video game business for many years and used to pitch video game proposals to Nintendo when he was 10. After graduating from Emerson College, he worked as an intern at Mostow/Lieberman, the production company who created the film U-571. He moved back to Massachusetts to live closer to his family and work in the video game industry.

After moving back to town, Gardner was working at an Electronics Boutique store when he met Irrational Games co-founder Ken Levine. Gardner’s knowledge of video games impressed Levine, who in turn asked Gardner join Irrational Games’ team as a quality assurance specialist.

While working for Irrational Games, Gardner served as the design director for 2007’s BioShock and 2012’s BioShock Infinite. After Irrational Games shut its doors, the Gardners started The Deep End Games. The company includes a number of well-known video game developers who previously worked on acclaimed video games BioShock Infinite, BioShock, Rock Band and Dead Space.

The Deep End Games launched a Kickstarter campaign in the spring of 2015 to help bring Perception to life. The company raised $168,041 over the course of the kickstarter campaign.

Gardner said it’s an exciting time to be a video game developer.

“The industry is changing,” said Gardner. “There used to be a handful of huge companies that would create these behemoth games. But in the past four or five years, there has been a creative explosion in the industry. There are a lot of independent developers undertaking these risky ideas.”

Gardner said also wants to mentor young and aspiring developers the same way Levine served as his mentor.

“I am a firm believer in raising talent,” said Gardner. “I want to help grow gaming development in the Boston area. I am tired of seeing developers move to San Francisco or Seattle while trying to make it. There is so much talent out there now and as we grow as a company, I want to give people a shot.”

The Gardners grew up in town and attended Lynnfield schools. Bill graduated from Lynnfield High School in 1997 and Amanda graduated in 1998. The couple has four children.

If residents interested in video game developer would like to reach out to Gardner, he can be reached at bill@thedeependgames.com.