The former game director of Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 is working on a new AAA role-playing game. We have asked and already have some exciting information for you.
“Give us new role-playing games!”, a thunderous voice sounds outside the gates. Outside, countless GlobalESportNews editors and role-playing fans stand like a pack of hungry wolves. A pack of … Rebel Wolves. And as luck would have it, that’s the name of a new studio from the former game director of The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077.
Konrad Tomaszkiewicz has gathered a number of AAA veterans around him and is currently working on a new big fantasy role-playing game. So of course we didn’t miss the chance to storm the gates and bash our questions at the developers.
What’s behind the new role-playing game?
The still nameless role-playing game project of the new studio is still quite mysterious, but some information is already in the prophecy … er, press release. It will be set in a Dark Fantasy universe and developed in the powerful Unreal Engine 5. The focus: an epic story experience “that captivates players from the first to the last minute. A game that they want to play to the end – and then all over again.”
When asked, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz tells us that the new project will be “as nonlinear as possible” and that big decisions à la The Witcher will play an important role. Compared to oldschool role-playing games like Pathfinder, however, the focus should not be on “complicated mechanics and a wave of numbers”. Instead, players should be able to do whatever they feel like – which sounds like role-playing sandbox at first.
“We still want to offer a range of skills and a lot of builds for you to discover and play. But we want to make sure they’re easy to understand and use. We’re drawing inspiration from the Diablo series here, where you get the basics right away – and then spend dozens of hours exploring different mechanics and having tons of fun with it.”
The combat system is also said to result in a seamless experience in tandem with the dialogue. For instance, an argument can break out into a fight at any time, or a brawl can be interrupted for a heated debate without breaking the immersion. Currently, the team is testing different approaches to create a cinematic feel, “with impressive choreography that you see in your favourite Hollywood blockbusters.”
The team includes developers who have previously worked on the Witcher series, Cyberpunk 2077, Gears of War and Shadow Warriors 2, for example. According to Tomaszkiewicz, they take a lot of experience from their past projects with them – but above all, they know what they don’t want for their upcoming game.
“Current role-playing games have two big problems “
For one, they definitely don’t want to “chase modern trends.” According to Tomaszkiewicz, that means no money-grabbing DLCs, no lootboxes and no NFTs. But they also don’t want to fall into the two big traps they currently see with role-playing games.
“A lot of AAA games are instigating a war to be even bigger and longer than the last blockbuster. We think that’s a dead end. What gamers really want is not a game that takes 300, 400 or 500 hours to play through, but one that they remember. “
The other problem, according to Tomaszkiewicz, is that many role-playing games have forgotten what the genre used to be about. The feeling of a pen&paper round with infinite possibilities, comprehensible goals for your characters and a world that reacts to your behaviour. “Yes, that’s a big dream. But we believe we have the experience and talent to deliver on our promise.”
As the game is currently still in the prototype phase, a release date is still a long way off – but more info on the unnamed AAA role-playing game should follow soon.
Until then, take a look at our video on the topic of role-playing game decisions – there Micha and Fritz discuss why many people prefer to play the good guys, why we often make the same decisions the second time around and what really makes a good role-playing game decision.
What are your hopes for the game from Rebel Wolves? What would you like to see in terms of setting, story and mechanics? Tell us in the comments!
