First how did AGO Games come to be formed?

I started working on AGŌ Games shortly after quitting my previous job in July 2009. I spent the summer toying with some game ideas and once I found one I was really in love with I started designing what was to become The Asskickers. Once I felt I had a fairly solid idea of what the game would be I started looking for people who would be interested in setting up a game's studio with me. I found Alex (lead artist) and Ian (lead programmer) and we started working on a prototype of the game. I also found a business partner Marc and established AGŌ Games as a limited company. After that, it was only a matter of finding the money to fund our game without having to rely on publisher support. That took several months but in the end we managed to secure funding for the game and eventually moved to an office in Nancy

How did the idea for The Asskickers come about?

Honestly, I don't know. I spent two months thinking about game concepts, 24 hours a day and suddenly The Asskickers idea just imposed itself. It felt right and I knew I had found what I had been looking for. It just struck me and after that I could not think about anything else. It's just like love at first sight really...

What are some of your major influences as you develop the game?

From a game history and gameplay point of view, our major influences are of course beat'em up classics such as Streets of Rage, Double Dragon, Final Fight and tons of others like Turtles in Time, Cadillac and Dinosaurs etc...

As for the content of the game, I would say that the world we live in can count as the major influence for the game. It's not something we are ready to disclose right now but let's just say that when President Obama says is trying to know whose ass to kick it definitely resonates with us and what we hope to accomplish with The Asskickers.

What can you tell us about the backstory for the game?

All I can tell you is that the action of the game will take place in an urban and contemporary environment and that the game will tell the story of three ordinary people who through their command of martial arts and their determination will stand up against the forces of greed and corruption.

What can you tell us about the three playable characters at this time?

Alex, Marcus and Diane both have their personal stories, specific skills and own fighting styles. We hope that players will relate to them and we tried to define them as people more than just game characters. We are planning to introduce each one of them in good time to our audience so they can get to know them better.

What sort of enemies will the three have to deal with in the game?

That is something that we are really excited about but unfortunately we are not willing to communicate on that just yet.

What kind of combos and special attacks can players expect to use in the game?

Players can expect to have a set of basic and special attacks for each character as well as a set of combos. We will also implement collaborative attacks that will be available in multiplayer mode.

What other features can we expect to see in The Asskickers?

You can expect to see a time attack mode in which you will race against the clock by beating enemies as well as survival mode in which you will need to hold out against wave of increasingly powerful enemies.

Why did you decide to go with a 2D pencil drawn look for the game's graphics?

First because we just loved the look and feel of good old 2D and felt that it was part of the charm of beat'em up classics. For us, it is very important that there exists a strong connection between the style and the content. Second, because we consider that a lot of games either in 2D or 3D tend to look the same and we wanted to have a unique look to our game.

Are there plans to release a playable demo for the game?

It is something that we are considering but we haven't made a decision yet.

Any plans to expand the game with new content past its release?

We have plans for this kind of thing but we are not willing to discuss them at the moment. Sorry!

What other projects, if any, does the development team have for the future?

Our top priority is to make The Asskickers as good as it can possibly be and we have all our sights set on that goal. We still have a lot of work ahead of us and delivering a great game is our primary focus.