Text and photo: Nelly Sander, AAU Communication and Public Affairs

The story of Bedtime Digital Games can be traced back to 2013. The company’s future founders, AAU students Jonas Byrresen and Klaus Pedersen, were on a trip to San Francisco. The journey offered broken sleep in a shabby hotel room on the outskirts of Chinatown, but also a formative encounter with the international games industry.

The computer game Back to Bed, which they were part of developing as students, won a student award at IGF (Independent Games Festival), the world’s largest awards ceremony and industry event for independent game developers.

With this prestigious recognition, and a suitcase full of new contacts, Jonas Byrresen and Klaus Pedersen were far from finished making games. In fact, they were only just getting started.

Fears and nightmares sketched on napkins

“I remember the flight home from the US. We were sitting there drawing on napkins because we didn’t really have anything else. Some of the very first ideas came from that moment. We thought this dream world was really interesting, but that we wanted enemies and a stronger theme. Then we started talking about fear and nightmares as psychological themes, and about how you could create an adventure game that takes place inside the brain,” says Jonas Byrresen.

The outlines of Bedtime Digital Games began to emerge, and today, thirteen years later, the company is a professional game studio with a dozen permanent employees. They develop games from scratch, covering the entire process from initial idea and concept to prototype, production and publishing.

Making games is a team effort

Their interest in game development naturally predates the trip to San Francisco. Both Jonas Byrresen and Klaus Pedersen studied Interactive Digital Media at AAU and were selected to take part in the Danish Academy of Digital Interactive Entertainment (DADIU) during their 11th semester.

Here, they were taught by industry professionals and worked in a team of 16 people, with clearly defined roles such as programmer, director, producer, or responsibility for design and process.

“A lot of people think that making a game is the point. But the most important thing is actually being allowed to work together as a team, like we did at AAU. Working with people who don’t think exactly like you do, and who have completely different tools in their toolbox. That’s where we developed the prototype for Back to Bed,” says Jonas Byrresen.

No need to store 100,000 copies

Once back in Denmark, it was time to think commercially. One thing is developing ideas; another is navigating the long and often costly process that follows, especially in the early stages of game development. At the same time, games can generate income over a long period, as they are distributed digitally and do not require 100,000 physical copies sitting in a warehouse.

The next step was to find investors. Here, the two young founders showed business acumen and kept cool heads.

“If someone wanted to invest in us, they would have to be involved in more than just finishing Back to Bed. If someone was going to own part of the company and make money from it, they would also have to be involved in the next product. Otherwise, what would be in it for us?” Jonas Byrresen asks rhetorically.

More funding and new games

They succeeded in securing an investor, Capnova, and from there things moved forward steadily. After completing Back to Bed, they spent five to six years developing Figment 1 and Figment 2, which became their commercial breakthrough.

Their next major project is a multiplayer game, which is a much bigger undertaking with more technical challenges than the single-player games they have worked on so far.

Jonas Byrresen has, throughout the years, worked from a firm belief in the games industry and its potential.

“In Denmark and internationally, the games industry generates more revenue than music and films combined. Whether you like it or not, it is the new cultural frontier.”