Q&A with Jackbox Games to Celebrate the Megapicker Launch
Jackbox Games have finally released the Jackbox Megapicker. This is a free unified launcher for all the various games which is sure to make your game nights much smoother. You open up the Megapicker and then can easily access all the Jackbox games you own.
You can filter games, favorite games, install games, and even purchase games/packs that you do not already own. I haven’t been able to have a game night since the Megapicker was released, but I have played around in it and it is a vast improvement over not having it. The only problem is that it is currently exclusive to Steam.
To help promote the Megapicker, Jackbox allowed me the opportunity to ask their Engineering Director, Brad Vah, a few questions about how it came to be and what it means for the future. I think there are some fascinating insights.
I know that I personally have been begging for something like the Megapicker for years and imagine that others have been too, so first I will give a massive thank you from all of us. What finally made something like the Megapicker possible? Was it a matter of technology? A matter of interest? Something else?
The Megapicker is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time, but the logistics of it has always been the sticking point. We strive to make sure all of our products are available on as many platforms as possible, but some platforms can make a concept like the Megapicker a non-starter.
Once we accepted that (sad) reality, it allowed us to really reframe our thinking on what we’re trying to put out there. Our hope is now that we have a tangible product on Steam it may help us work with our partners on other platforms to bring the Megapicker to them!
When the Megapicker launches it will only be available on Steam. Are there plans/is it viable to bring the Megapicker to other platforms?
Plans is a bit of a strong word–there’s definitely the desire and goal, but, as mentioned above, there’s a logistical challenge to doing so. Other platforms (especially consoles) have more rigid paradigms that can make something like the Megapicker at best confusing and at worst a bad user experience.
Steam provides a level of flexibility that we can tap into your existing library and purchases in such a way that the Megapicker is a transparent utility on top of what you already own. With other platforms the ability to layer in like that may not be possible and could require complications like repurchasing your games, or doubling up storage space, things like that.
As I said, we definitely want to have a unified offering across all platforms so it’s something we’re going to keep investigating and working with our partners to figure out feasibility.
For players, the Megapicker will be a godsend, but I'm curious, how will the implementation of the Megapicker impact the future of Jackbox games?
It’s certainly going to change the results of our community feedback surveys!
The Megapicker will first and foremost always be a utility for our fans and players that want to use it. We have no intention of changing anything we’re doing in lieu of the Megapicker. Our releases will always be able to stand on their own.
That said, we have a lot of plans for the Megapicker to augment Jackbox Games. One realization we had early on is that the Megapicker allows us a certain amount of flexibility that our release cycle doesn’t.
We can update the Megapicker anytime which provides a certain amount of freedom in experimentation. What does that mean? We don’t know; but we’ve got a bunch of ideas we want to explore ranging from being able to keep your post game galleries for longer than a year to being able to reuse the same room code throughout your night of games to possibly getting some prototypes or early mechanics in front of players. No promises on anything–just a glimpse into our minds!
What’s your go-to Jackbox game of choice?
I’m absolutely abysmal at drawing–I can’t draw a stick figure to save my life–so of course I’m partial to anything and everything Drawful. It’s my time to shine!