Developer Acceleration Program Spotlight: Ram Ram Studio

The ID@Xbox Developer Acceleration Program, launched in 2023, marches forth with the mission to empower underrepresented creators with the resources and information needed to bring their creativity, innovation, and originality to Xbox. The Developer Acceleration program seeks to support developers who are led by those from Black, Indigenous, Latino or LGBTQIA+ communities, women, developers with disabilities, developers from emerging markets or teams with unique perspectives, and several other communities by removing longstanding barriers to entry for creators and normalizing diverse storylines and characters in gaming.

Since the program was announced, dozens of games have been released on Xbox to both critical acclaim and commercial success. With that in mind, we believe it is only fitting that we spotlight some of the creators behind these titles in a new recurring series on Microsoft Game Dev blog.

This week, we’re highlighting Ram Ram Studio, developer of the Developer Acceleration Program title 30 Birds. We had the chance to chat with Coline and Laurent about the studio’s experience with the program and how DAP helped them successfully develop 30 Birds.

Tell us about Ram Ram Studio.

Hi, I'm Coline! I co-founded Ram Ram Studio in 2022 in Brussels when we signed with ARTE France to create our first game, 30 BIRDS. Before that we were a bunch of friends, working on our free time on this very special project. I say special because it started as an art installation. As we were back from a trip to Istanbul with Laurent, we were invited to exhibit the paintings I made in a book of travel inspired by Turkish and Persian traditional art. Laurent developed these paintings in an interactive installation. It was a long journey to transform this installation into an actual video game! 

What can you tell us about 30 Birds?

30 Birds is inspired by these marvelous paintings from the 15^th century named “Persian Miniatures”.

In terms of the story, Laurent draws inspiration from various tales, but more specifically Russian and Persian ones, particularly The Arabian Nights. The game's main quest and the 30 birds are directly inspired by the Sufi poem “The Conference of the Birds”, written by Attar of Nishapur in the 12th century. The book “My Name is Red “by Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk is also a major source of inspiration in terms of Persian miniature art.

The anachronistic and magical realist aspect is quite reminiscent of the cartoon “Adventure Time”. In terms of video games, games such as Mario Paper and Fez are, of course, graphic references for the mix of 2D and 3D. In terms of mechanics and atmosphere, we can mention the games by Amanita Design, manipulation games such as Windosill and GNOG, and the open world filled with little stories of Sludge Life, albeit in a completely different tone.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced as an independent studio?

It's always the same story when you start a studio: you need to work a lot on the business side and you don't spend enough time to properly lead your project. We wasted a lot of time fighting to create a bigger game. In the end we realized that a short experience strengthens the focus of the player.

How did you learn about or connect with the Developer Acceleration Program?

We met some people from Xbox back at Gamescom in 2022. We had to go with our 1 year old girl because we had no one to leave her with in Brussels. She really enjoyed the meeting!

A year later, Laurent showed the game to Neil Holmes at the Develop: Brighton event and Neil told him about the DAP. Then I believe ARTE followed up with people from ID@Xbox at GDC 2024.

How has the Developer Acceleration Program impacted your game’s development?

Thanks to the program, we got La Poule Noire, a studio that is very experienced in porting, to handle most of the work to port the game to the Xbox ecosystem. This wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

What accomplishments are you most proud of as an independent studio?

We did ship the game! Furthermore on consoles. We never betrayed our weird ambitions. We're still a bunch of friends, and we want to do it again!

Any hints on what might be coming next from Ram Ram Studio?

We are currently working on a new prototype inspired by our own culture: the folklore of the south of France and its almost forgotten language. It’s a game in which you travel with your cart and donkey, crafting strange goods to trade barter them in villages. It’s set in medieval / post-apocalyptic times and is coming in 2026...

Why do you feel that programs like DAP are important to the health of the game industry?

This type of program enables indie teams to overcome some hardships that would be too much for them. I think it’s essential if we want more diversity to happen in the scene, especially on console.