Dance Central Spotlight

PROCESS + JOURNEY

Microsoft’s decision to include the second iteration of their Kinect camera with every Xbox One, presented a perfect opportunity for a new installment in the Dance Central franchise. For the first time, Harmonix’s definitive full-body motion gaming experience would come included with the console. Securing our place in the bundle required the logo and key art to be created unusually early in the production cycle.

A new revenue model was employed to both better align with changing consumer behavior as well as to take advantage of the large install base. Instead of the traditional large predefined soundtrack, the player would be able to build their collection from the entire catalog of available songs. It became clear this new focus on content curation would necessitate a dramatically reimagined interface.

Paired with a small team of UI engineers, we implemented an entirely new interaction paradigm for the franchise in less than 6 months. A new tile-based system was designed to display a higher density of compelling content and unify the visual layer to support multiple modes of input: motion controls, traditional gamepad, and voice. We integrated the players song library with the downloadable content marketplace into a single view, resulting in an increased conversion rate to our ever expanding library add-on content.

The HUD was also updated from the previous installments. Improvements focused on increasing informational clarity, improving accessibility for new and inexperienced dancers, as well as support for new gameplay mechanics.