Even if Ritual was able to modify its internal design process, it says exogenous factors have made PC development that much more difficult over the past two years.  "In F.A.K.K. 2's case, we started it in November 1998,” states Dochtermann.  “We're now in July 2000 and we're set to release it in a few weeks from now. What happened to us during that time, as well as to other developers, is that the PC gaming market imploded. When we released SiN, unit sales were significant. If you had a hit game, you expected to sell 400,000 to 600,000 copies. Right now, as we're about to release F.A.K.K. 2, a PC game, we're looking at the possibility that we won't sell even 200,000 or 300,000 units because the PC market has changed."

The solution?  According to this developer, as the PC market changes, so do they.  Ritual now sees itself, like most PC game makers, developing for the video game consoles, primarily the upcoming PlayStation 2 and Xbox. As a prelude to this, F.A.K.K. 2 is the first game that Ritual will release immediately on multiple platforms -- PC, Mac and with a Dreamcast version to follow soon. 

For Dotchermann, moving from PC to other platforms is part of a natural progression for a company still trying to find it niche. "Back in the day, we were just starting the wave of something unique, doing the add-on pack, and then moving into a full-blown game,” he explains. “Now we're at a point where we're trying to provide a unique experience in whatever genre we make a game. Something that's different," he says. "Hopefully we can keep doing that."

That difference is in part thanks to a diverse group of gamers that work on the tight-knit Ritual team.  "The whole company is made up of different kinds of game fanatics," says Dochtermann. "We have guys here who are first-person masters and they love playing deathmatch all day. We've got guys who play board games on a regular basis. We're a motley crew to begin with, but the one thing that we share is our love for games, and a love to play and explore new horizons.”  Dochtermann says that no matter where the company goes next, “I want people to know that when they buy a Ritual game they'll never, ever, ever play a clone of some other game. We don't take on a game to make unless we think we can add something new and unique to the genre."

One area Ritual is already thinking about exploring for its next project is something every developer in the industry is debating: online multiplayer.  "We've talked internally about how our future games could be different from a multiplayer perspective or incorporate more of a cooperative feel to them rather than as a solitary experience," Dochtermann says. "So where I see Ritual in the long run is branching out into making experiences that would allow for you to play with your friends."