Interview with HT-Johan

Someone who feels happy and fortunate to be able to dedicate his life to HT, offering since 1998 a great entertainment to thousands and thousands of managers (280.000 at this moment all over the world in 128 countries).

We guess that he's lived the best and the worst in his game, the game of we all! But now, his story is a story of success. 20 years of success! HT is alive.
YES!!!

Possible spoiler. Click here to show

This interview was realised by dealerxx (3270054) and initially published on Global forum: (17132655.1)

dealerxx (3270054): I'm sure you've been told it before, but you're a creator of an entertainment that has been and still is the best game ever played in the lives of a lot of people around the world. What do you feel when you think about that? Is HT anything for you that goes beyond a work?

HT-Johan (1836): It makes me very proud to be part of it! At the same time, it is not something I take too much credit for myself. Hattrick always had this “larger than life” quality to it, even when we only had 2000 users in Sweden back in the 90’s .

There was always stories about user meet ups, Hattrick babies, crazy obsessed managers who would stay up all night to get a transfer purchase, etc… It is those stories that make Hattrick, in my opinion, that’s why I fell in love with the game in the first place and that’s what I hope will be our legacy one day. I also think this reply shows that for me, yes, Hattrick is more than just a job, it’s a big part of my life - 75% of my Facebook friends are Hattrick users and volunteers...



dealerxx: Congratulations, 20 years of HT is something absolutely incredible for an online game. But, imagine, Johan, that now, you were 20 years old only. I ask you to avoid topics and try to think about anything you could do to surprise the world like you did in 1998 with a longterm project of success. Let your divine+ imagination fly… :P

HT-Johan: Very interesting question! First of all, I think there are plenty of big opportunities out there for those of you that are only 20 years old - it is so cheap to start a company these days compared to when we got started, and the market (on the web at least) is so much bigger! I’m not sure I could do something as big as Hattrick again, though.

You need a good idea, of course, but also timing and luck. Most important of all is patience and the will to work hard and not give up in the first place. If you believe in your idea, make it happen. BUT one thing that I have always felt had so much bigger promise is geolocation, both in games and apps. I guess Pokemon Go is a first sign of the cool thing that could be done there, but it is still in my mind a rather primitive game. Now, we also have Sugmented Reality coming, so this is an area that I will think will be super interesting to follow. It’s an area where you could maybe combine games with activism, things that actually make yourself or the world or both, better. I’d love to design a game where people would put the effort they put into Hattrick or Pokemon Go into saving the environment, for example.


dealerxx: You have lived the best and the worst in HT. The company was sold for you when it was in the best times ever seen, then we saw the worst with another management, and finally you could repurchase again what it had been yours before, and it seems that all is now more or less, back to normal. What can you explain us about your own “in-out-in story”? My bet is that you are not only a very good business man … perhaps you learnt also that HT will never be far from your life. And cheers for that if happens...


HT-Johan: When we sold, it was for me more out of exhaustion than for any other reason. We had seen the decline in the game for some years and there were quite embittered arguments among the then owners what to do about it, and it drove me quite unhappy because some of the routes involved pretty harsh reductions in staff and maybe also changed business models.

I was able to fend off any ideas of pay-to-win, but it was sometimes a struggle, and when Zattikka came with their pretty words about wanting to grow the game instead of reducing development staff, it was a way out for us owners - I could stay and continue building, and the others could leave. Now, the episode with Zattikka made me even more depressed than I had been, because there were new problems introduced with them, and the business was mismanaged.

For me, it really was a kind of collapse, personally and professionally. The big relief when we bought back was that we could start at zero - there were really no expectations left. We didn’t have to live up to being this super fast growing game any more. Just surviving would be kind of awesome. So we built the team around doing just that, in a sustainable way, where we would actually be happy with our lives and hands on, and not just being managers sitting in meetings all day. So these past 4 years have been the best in Hattrick for me, apart from maybe the first 3-4 years, which where so intensive and new and when we learnt so much.

dealerxx: A couple of years ago, perhaps three, I read from you, if I am not wrong, that we would probably see a decline to 200k users in the future. Please, correct me if it is not right, but I guess that this number was and is quite comfortable for you and for the health of the company.

Some questions arise from here: What is the number of users that would show a red zone for the survival of HT? Perhaps we have to talk of supporters not only of users in the last question? Understand me, we want HT to be on the top, being with us at least 20 years more. Our addiction is still hungry of more and more HT :P

HT-Johan: I can’t really say that a certain level is a “red zone” or not, if we would drop to 50K or a 100K we would still be sustainable, but we might not be able to keep all members of the dev staff on payroll. Users might not notice that, but the development would slow down of course. So I’d very much like to stay around where we are now, around 200K and above, because now the business is healthy and we have a happy, secure team. And it feels more and more like we will be able to achieve this over the long term as well


dealerxx: Let's talk about Hattrick and his faithful and loyal users. What have you done for them in the past and what will you do to take care of them in the next future to stay in HT?

HT-Johan: They mean everything to us. Hattrick today IS the mature, faithful users - both Supporters and non-Supporters, but of course the former play an important role in keeping the business afloat. But it feels like we really have finally understood that we should focus on the loyal old users (and former users who return after a pause) and not worry so much about “finding new markets”.

We’ve tried that, too, and it often involves alienating some loyals when you do. This doesn’t man that we have given up on modernising the game, but we go much more slowly now and try to get everyone on board. We can’t afford to lose the people that we know love Hattrick. Better to have them stick around, and then get their kids in as the next generation of users :)

dealerxx: HT and our “always beloved” motor engine.

Does it work like a new XC90 T8?(http://www.autobild.es/sites/autobild.es/public/styles/gallery_big/public/media/image/2016/02/514881-volvo-xc90-t8-nieve.jpg?itok=4A0EGsFA)

Or perhaps like a classic 144 Sedan from de 70’s with thousands and thousands of kilometers and still on the road?(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/3a/9d/eb/3a9debb6d5da957d8da234af784a18e2.jpg) ...

Or it’s time to buy a new one? ;)

HT-Johan: I think it is fairly obvious that it is an old Volvo 242. A green one, I guess. (http://volvo.csmd.cz/images/vo/volvo-242-dl-sweden-7.jpg) Not very pretty, a little rusty, it used to be very common place on the road (at least in Sweden), but is now less often seen - but it is still a very reliable car and to some, a real object of affection. A cult car!

dealerxx: Users with prefix: GM, LA, MOD. More than simple users. Volunteers who cooperate with you for a virtual diamond and why not for their own personal satisfaction … I think that’s a good deal for both. But I wonder if HT could exist as we always have known it without these persons. Would be equally profitable your company if you had to pay for their tasks?

HT-Johan: No, we couldn’t exist as we know it today, for sure. And that is the key word… I think Hattrick could still exist without the volunteers but it would have been a different game, less community-oriented for sure, much less local - the local staff has often been driving the fostering of local communities and of course the translations. Hattrick would have been smaller, poorer and less fun without them.


dealerxx: Well Johan, It’s time to tell us something about you. Your hobbies when you log off of HT and how is a day of your life for example.

HT-Johan: I’m 44 years old, and I live in Lisbon, as my partner is Portuguese. We have two kids, 7 and 4 year old. I work with Hattrick, something between a 50 % part time and 100 %, when we are doing launches or planning meetings.

My hobbies is computer games (of course!), I’m into strategy games like Civilization and Europa Universalis. I would play a lot of board games, but I don’t have than many board game loving friend down here. I read a lot, fiction and non-fiction - history and current affairs, and some popular science. Some Netflix when the kids are sleeping. Trying to revive my scuba diving hobby from the 20s, as well, but that’s a work in progress still…

dealerxx: This interview comes from the staff of the U20-Andorra. The NT world is very interesting for people who follow it. But we are few users. Why do you think that the main part of the managers are not attracted for this world inside the game?

HT-Johan: Good question! I don’t know. I don’t think everyone should be interested in everything, mind you, as Hattrick is supposed to be a casual game if you want to. But the NT world has potential to be more engaging for more players. Maybe you are better positioned to give me the answer, than the other way around? I guess we should look at ways we could connect NTs more naturally to the daily life of managers, at least that could be a start. Also, I think the format of the WCs are quite unfortunate today. They seem to drag on for ever. Maybe shorter, more intense tournaments would drive more interest.


dealerxx: And the last one. You can only answer yes xDD
Can we say then, that HT is alive and healthy?

HT-Johan: YES!

dealerxx: Thanks a lot Johan for your time and comments and welcome to Andorra... or Barcelona whenever you want.

HT-Johan: My pleasure.
I’d love to come to Andorra! I have never been. Barcelona is one of the great city loves of my life, and where we had our first international GM meeting back in 2003, I think. But I always enjoy coming back there :)

dealerxx: See you soon! :)

"Interview also available in French, see (16803141.76)"

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