Earlier this year, a trio of ex-BioWare developers set off to found Stoic Studio, a new indie company that made its debut earlier this year with a striking trailer for its first game: a strategy RPG known as The Banner Saga. Now, the team has started a new Kickstarter campaign to fund the project and bring their dream game to life.
Company co-founders Arnie Jorgensen, Alex Thomas, and John Watson left BioWare shortly after Star Wars: The Old Republic shipped in December to take a risk and create a game not for mainstream audiences, but for themselves. In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Thomas explained that The Banner Saga is the team's chance to take a risk and pursue their greatest dream as game creators.
"If you asked anyone in the games industry, I think most of them would tell you their ultimate goal is to make their own game. BioWare was a great experience for all three of us, but I think we realized that if we didn't [make this game] now, we never would, and we'd regret it," Thomas said.
He explained that The Banner Saga draws influence from classic strategy games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Shining Force, and the team at Stoic wants to make sure that it pays homage to the games that inspired them as children.
"I think what we're developing really harkens back to a deep appreciation for games, and playing them since we were kids. That's what it's all about -- being blown away by something like Baldur's Gate or King of Dragon Pass or X-COM, and wanting to make something that does them justice."
According to Thomas, Stoic wants to build upon the legacy of these titles by breaking away from traditional gaming tropes and creating an experience that reaches players on an emotional level.
"Our first priority has always been to make a role-playing game that feels and looks fresh, and plays like the classic tactical strategy games of our childhood, but it's not just about defeating the villain and saving the day. It's not about grinding to get past the next fight," he said. The real trick is making players care about the fiction they interact with.
To create that emotional depth, The Banner Saga will present players with numerous decision-focused scenarios, giving them a chance to take ownership of their actions, forge relationships with in-game characters, and otherwise feel like a part of Stoic's grim, fantasy-based world.
"We want the player to care about what happens to the people they travel with because ultimately, you and your kin are all in it together. There's a sense of community missing in games that we're trying to bring to the front of The Banner Saga."
Thomas believes that if players care enough about the game world, they will view The Banner Saga as not just a strategy game, but as a complex, interactive drama.
"For us, more than anything, The Banner Saga is a chance to take a risk. Here's the bottom line -- we wanted to make a game that you can really influence, that feels like a TV miniseries. You're not watching superheroes, you're watching people with their own motivations and desires that you can relate to. You want to see what happens to them and how they deal with conflict," he said.
"That, more than anything, is what we want to capture. We're basing our gameplay on this one imperative, and every system informs another to come back to this idea," he added. "We're so desperate to play a game like this -- a game for adults about adults, a game that isn't a sex and violence power fantasy, that we're making it ourselves."
Stoic Studio's The Banner Saga is scheduled to debut later this year.
All of the things he's saying are excellent. I really hope this gets funded. I'll be throwing down for one of the game tiers, though I'm not sure which.
As a sidenote, if I had a spare $600, that landscape reward looks incredible. I want it very badly.
The project started earlier this year and is scheduled to finish later this year? The amount of experience and talent these guys have is incredible, nobody's going to deny that, but isn't this too soon? They're making a BioWare style RPG so their gameplay is going to be standard enough to not be an issue to them, so like BioWare they're relying on a huge world and a story to be their selling point. No matter what style the game is, no matter what development tools you're using, writing story still relies on the good, old pen and paper and they don't have a proffessional writer on their team. I'm nobody to be saying this, but writing an engaging RPG in this short amount of time without a writer just doesn't seem feasible.
I agree with you Maciej but then i would question what is our bar of comparison for an engaging RPG story this generation ? I mean there are a few out there but story much like A.I. seems to be one of the areas where game developement is currently stagnating a bit. if they are trying to make a revolutionary cream of the crop story they may have trouble doing so in such a short time but I have to be honest making a story that can at least compete with the rest of the pack right now is not a particularly daunting task because very few other games have mind blowing stories themselves . They may have entertaining characters or present their stories in unique fashion but on the basis of just being incredible stories not too many succeed.
If they focus smaller, but with interesting options and polish they should do fine. Focus appeal to their motif, add Depth of gameplay and polish next .. limited story third .. yes they'll do fine.
I don't see a problem with a single episode. some of the best games are episodes. Realistically with no start up money for these projects .. at least sandwiches rent and a computer for the developers they won't be able to make a game.
Wow it's never been so affordable to be turned into a Viking god! I remember when you had to slaughter entire villages filled with your enemies to even be considered, but now $2500 is all it takes.
Too bad Kickstarter is still racialist against Canadians (and the rest of the world, but who really cares about them?).
Definitely pledging.
As a sidenote, if I had a spare $600, that landscape reward looks incredible. I want it very badly.
Have to start somewhere.
I want more games with old-school animated aesthetics, so that's one more backer for these guys.
Too bad Kickstarter is still racialist against Canadians (and the rest of the world, but who really cares about them?).