The Long Dark Gets The Support of Veteran Game Designer Ken Rolston

Veteran game developer Ken Rolston, best known for his work on Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls series of games, where he served as the Lead Designer on both The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, has joined forces with Hinterland to work on The Long Dark as Designer-in-Residence.

Rolston has been designing games for more than 30 years, from early pen-and-paper role-playing games to some of the most groundbreaking open-world narrative experiences ever created.

So what does being a Designer-in-Residence entail? According to Hinterland’s Raphael van Lierop, his job is to support the team and guide them as they wrestle with the formidable design challenges they are undertaking to live up to their grand ambitions for The Long Dark — a high quality, open world, sandbox survival simulation with a compelling narrative. And in case you were wondering, the studio is a small one without the backing or support of a major publisher, so that’s even more of a challenge for them to face.

“The moment I saw Raphael’s early concepts for ‘The Long Dark’, I was fascinated. Humbled. And desperately wanted to be involved. And as the concept flowered, I only became more desperate,” said Rolston in a press release. 

“Now we’ve found a way to make it work. And all I have to do is struggle to be worthy of the honor,” he continued.

“I have the experience, the ambition, the hunger. Now I simply have to find something new and valuable to add to this inspired game. A delicious, noble, and welcome burden to share with my esteemed colleagues at Hinterland.”