Former TT Games head takes on Peter Pan

Back in 2020, UK games industry veteran Tom Stone stepped down from his position as managing director at the Lego games maker TT Games.

Having spent almost 18 years at the helm of the studio – and before that, working at Lego Interactive, Electronic Arts, and Giant Interactive (which merged with Traveller’s Tales to form TT Games) – he departed to do something new.

To start with, this took the form of becoming the chair of FuturLab (the maker of Powerwash Simulator) and acting as managing director for the venture capital firm Juno Capital Partners.

Then, in Christmas 2024, Stone had a conversation with The Blair Partnership and Great Ormond Street Hospital. The former is a media agency that manages franchises such as Harry Potter; it had been appointed by the latter to develop the Peter Pan and Neverland IP in the video games space.

Back in 1929, author JM Barrie granted the rights to Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street. Although the IP is now in the public domain, the hospital receives royalties from its commercial use.

Thus, Second Star Games was born. The name itself, for those who know, is a telltale sign of what IP the studio is working on. In the Disney animated movie, Peter gives Wendy the directions to Neverland with the famous line: “Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning.”

Let’s go round again

The venture is staffed by some of Stone’s former colleagues from TT Games, including lead game designer Andrew Holt, art director Nicola Daly and head of engineering Chris Stanforth. The last piece of the puzzle was funding: Stone is putting some of his own money into the venture, but the majority of the investment has come from Grahame Chilton, who helped fund 2005’s Lego Star Wars: The Video Game. The company is still weighing up whether to partner with a publisher or go it alone.

“We could have made fewer games slightly better”

Tom Stone, Second Star Games

While Second Star Games definitely has an element of bringing the band back together, Stone wants to do things slightly differently this time.

“I think we’re going to take a breath and look up occasionally,” he says. “When we were making the Lego games, it was intense. It was blood, sweat and tears. I loved every single moment of it, but upon reflection, we could have made fewer games slightly better and sold probably the same number of units that we sold.”

Though TT Games saw wild success with its series of Lego games, there were some at the studio who were unhappy with its culture. An investigation by Polygon in 2022 painted a picture of a workforce under relentless pressure and crunch, at least on Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. To his credit, Stone is reported to have held meetings to find out how staff felt and tried to rectify the situation before he departed the company.

“It was a pretty tough 15, 16, 17 years we had at TT. We were on a mission. We were focused. We achieved incredible things,” Stone says.

“Everything in life is a trade; people worked incredibly hard and the games were phenomenally successful. I don’t think everyone complained that it was a tough culture. As happens, there were a number of people who justifiably and rightly said it was a tough environment; their voices were louder than the people who were saying they enjoyed working there and loved making Lego games. Their voices weren’t heard so much.”

Despite his earlier reflection that he wants his new studio to make fewer games slightly better, Stone says that in order to do extraordinary things, developers must be open to tough and challenging work.

“We’re currently a team of 18 full-time employees. Everyone’s the same. We’re all in this boat together. Everyone knows each other. We don’t want an HR department. Everyone is there to support one another in building this game together,” Stone says.

“It’s going to be tough and challenging because we’re setting ourselves incredibly high goals. We had a meeting last week in the studio, where we agreed on a particular design feature, which is going to be very, very challenging to achieve.

“If we are not going to do stuff like that, what’s the point of doing it? If we aren’t going to break through and make this game truly memorable, then why bother? Everyone is on board. Everyone knows we are going to set ourselves some really, really high bar challenges, and everyone wants to do it.”

A changed world

At last official count back in 2019, the Lego games made by TT had sold north of 200 million copies (Stone reckons now it’s closer to 380 or 390 million). There’s no denying that the franchise has been hugely successful. But Stone and co are mindful of the fact that the games industry has changed wildly since 2005, especially when it comes to younger audiences.

“We want to do something really special. We’re aware that we’re launching into an entirely different market now. In 2005, there was no Roblox, no Minecraft, no Rocket League, no Fortnite,” he says.

“We know that the age group we are aiming at – five through 13 years old – is engaged in one of those games. Obviously, it’s going to be a challenge to have them look up and turn their head and say: ‘There’s a game over there I’d really love to play,’ because they are so engaged in those other games.

“Back in 2005, we were releasing into a physical goods, console-led market, but with no backdrop of people being absorbed by other games that they are playing. Now that’s different. That’s the key change. The other major change is discoverability – there are so many games being released. Unless you have an IP, it’s quite hard for people to discover your game.”

Working on licensed IP has also changed a great deal in the last 20 years. Companies appear to be more relaxed than they were in the past when it comes to their intellectual property and are more open to video games in general.

“Licensors now realise the power of video games and that we can actually enhance and grow and build the intellectual property by making an amazing game,” Stone explains.

“The magic of Lego added to any one of the franchises that we made helped give that other franchise a slight lift. It’s a symbiotic relationship, right? As Harry Potter gave Lego a lift, Lego gave Harry Potter a lift. It just expressed it in new, different, and interesting ways.

“Consumers who love those intellectual properties are always ready for a new treatment and a new way of looking at Harry, a new way of looking at Lord of the Rings, whatever the franchise might be.”

Thoroughbred stable

Across its history, TT Games worked on everything from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings to Marvel and DC properties. Stone has similar aims for Second Star; he wants the studio to have a range of intellectual properties in its repertoire.

“The first is Neverland and the adventures of Peter Pan. Once we announced the studio, we actually had quite a lot of inbound interest, asking whether we’d be interested in working on this IP or that piece of IP. Obviously, we will be selective and thoughtful. We have to be mindful that we can’t do it all at the same time, but the goal is to build out a stable of expertise in this young gamer space.

“I imagine 100 years ago, the family would gather around the fire and share stories. They would have that shared moment of family community. What I’m imagining now is the family gathering around a screen in co-op mode, playing a game together, watching it being played and Peter Pan is that magnet.

“Peter Pan is the fire that everyone is watching, while they all gather around the television together. The vision is to build a stable, bring the thoroughbreds in, and have everyone playing together around a screen.”

He concludes: “When we introduced co-op play into the first Lego Star Wars game, it made such a difference. It was such a breakthrough moment; people were able to play together in a social cooperative way. We are going to build on that.”