Imagine being asked to pick just two game studios out of a sea of thousands and analyze them for an assignment. Well, that’s exactly what Simon Lydiard had to do. Simon, who attends Bond University in Australia, contacted the Cipher Prime team a few weeks ago about including us in his work. Naturally, we were pretty excited that someone across the globe was really into our games. Even more exciting? The other studio Simon put us up to is Bungie, which you may recognize if you’ve played a little Halo in your day.

In his report, Simon showcased the differences between a large and small studio, noting that no matter the size, communication, innovation, and a love of the job are all key components for success in the video game industry. “Each developer has conducted themselves in a respectful way to not just the industry, but to their fans,” he writes.

“Bungie keeps fans updated on their website and maintains their pristine image through careful handling of any public relations issues. Cipher Prime engages their fans in the same way, but is also heavily engaged with social media such as Twitter. The ability and importance of following up a product is just as important for each developer as the creation process itself.”

He also talks about the challenges surrounding game creation, and highlights the fact that trial-and-error is a huge part of how time is spent. Simon’s insights into the creative process behind our game, Auditorium, is a testament to this. The report touches upon the hard work that goes into making any indie game a hit, and we’re flattered that Simon calls us “one of the elite small development studios in the world.” Not too shabby, to say the least!

When it came to his report, Simon says picking Cipher Prime was a no-brainer. “I have played Fractal and Auditorium into the ground. When I got my new headphones, I played them all through again.” Simon is also anxious to get his hands on Pulse, our upcoming release.

Why such a game-centric assignment, you ask? Simon’s on track to graduate this year with his Bachelor’s Degree of Computer Games, and has a major in IT. After college, he plans on doing Master’s level research about games and mobile learning. He’s also thinking about working at his university as a designer and teacher. Sounds like some pretty sweet gigs, no?

Simon considers himself to be the typical, average gamer in his spare time. He likes to sift through various app catalogs to find indie treasures, but also makes a point of playing the big titles. We think it’s pretty awesome that someone like Simon is a fan of ours, and we look forward to seeing where he ends up in the industry. Thanks for writing about us, Simon! Keep up the good work… and tell that professor of yours we gave your paper an A+!

If you’d like to check out Simon’s full report (it’s a good read), visit his website and contact him there. You can also follow him on Twitter at @simonlyd.