Frozenbyte’s Vice President Joel Kinnunen has responded to criticisms of their latest release, Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power, in, in his own words, brutal honesty..
Joel felt compelled to defend the game after negative feedback from players, criticizing the relative shortness of the story, as well as the cliffhanger at the end. Many believe the cliffhanger was purposely added there to set up the release of future paid DLC.
In response, Joel says the issue is one of scope, aside from Frozenbyte failing to anticipate reaction from some of their decisions. To run down his points briefly:
· Trine 3 shifted the series to 3D gameplay.
· This shift cost $ 5.4 million, three times the development cost of Trine 2.
· Frozenbyte did not have the money to tell the whole story, which would have cost an estimated $ 15 million to make.
· Frozenbyte opted to release what they had on Early Access, in as finished a state as possible.
· Frozenbyte will fix the bugs, and hope to finish the story, but there are no plans for DLC.
· Frozenbyte believes that most gamers will finish in six to seven hours, though some can finish within four to five hours.
Sadly, on a final note Joel notes that the future of the series into question, as they were taken by surprise by the fan reaction. Frozenbyte will be taking a breather momentarily, but pledge to be more active in the forums, and of course update the game and fix bugs.
As it stands, Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power has 477 positive reviews and 168 negative reviews.
Have you played Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
