One of the beautiful things about video game design is that you have plenty of references to cite how you want your next game to be like. You can look at one game and say, “That’s too big.” Then, you can look at another game and state, “That’s not bad, but we can do it better if we do it like this!” Slowly, the picture of your game comes into view, and you know what to create. For one of the co-creators of the Dishonored franchise, Raphael Colantonio, and his new team at WolfEye Studios have been working hard on a new project, and he knows exactly how he wants to define it. Although, he doesn’t want to give the game’s name up yet.
He has confirmed that it will be another “immersive sim,” much like the ones he did when he worked for Arkane Studios. Raphael also cited certain games that he can point to, such as what the next game he creates will be like and the style that the game will mimic. He noted the following to PC Gamer:
“We favour density over size. We are even closer to that Falloutthing, [but] still with the values of previous games we’ve worked on like Prey and Dishonored. It’s mobility and that kind of physicality, the level design, the worldbuilding of those games, but served in a structure that is more open than ever.”
That’s both specific and vague all at the same time, which is fine, as it allows gamers to wonder what the game is truly about. The interview did reveal that the game’s setting would be an “alternate version” of the early 1900s. In this version of history, there was a massive technology showcase that drastically changed how America evolved over the next few decades.
CEO Julian Roby also noted in the interview that this isn’t just about making something that “takes them back to their roots” but helps them expand themselves as game developers:
“I think we have a desire to become better at our craft. That’s exciting for us, to go back to first person and build up on all those years of experiments.”
Raphael even cited that one of their past games “didn’t fit” what they like to do because of some of the in-game events they had to create. So, with whatever this next game truly is and is called, they’re trying to recapture the magic of their past while making something fresh and fun for gamers to enjoy.
