Crowfall Enlists Ultima Online Lead Designer Raph Koster

ArtCraft Entertainment, developer of the newly announced (we never posted about it, so consider this to be the first announcement) Crowfall, has just revealed an ongoing collaboration with renowned MMO designer Raph Koster. 

“Raph and I have been working together for about a year on the design architecture for Crowfall,” explained J. Todd Coleman, CEO and game director. “At the heart of this game, we have two core systems: dynamic territorial conquest and a player-driven economy.  Marrying these two concepts is the holy grail of MMO development, and Raph is arguably the best person in the world to help us solve this puzzle.” 

Koster served as the lead designer for the massively popular Ultima Online and Star Wars: Galaxies. Koster was honored by the Game Developer Conference Online as an “Online Game Legend.”

Gordon Walton, ArtCraft president and executive producer said, “Raph and Todd are two of the most amazing designers in the history of the MMO genre.  Seeing the two of them work together, for the first time, is unprecedented and absolutely fascinating.”

Koster adds, “There isn’t anything on the market like Crowfall, and it has been a long time since some of these design ideas were explored. There’s a very specific audience out there waiting for a game like this – the conflict, the real economy – that has been looking for new steps beyond the games of ten years ago.”

ArtCraft Entertainment was founded with the combined effort of J. Todd Coleman, director of Shadowbane, Wizard101 and Pirate 101, and Gordon Walton, executive producer for Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. The studio intends to push the MMO genre in “bold new directions” with its upcoming title, Crowfall. 

Further details on the game can be found at its official website.