It's ”what kind of game” they want to make which decide ”whatever elements” feature in it. Syndicate has to have ”top-notch shooting” but doesn’t need to compete.
It’s all about getting the ”right kind of shooting for the game” and not just looking to take on the competition, otherwise the game can suffer, explains CEO Mikael Nermark.
Asked if Starbreeze intend to stay focus on the first-person shooter genre, which their history is rich with, the big cheese offered a different perspective. ”…when we look at any project, when we look at any games, we don’t look at genre. We don’t look at it like we’re making a game; we’re making an experience for the player which is competing with whatever he or she would do - spend time with loved ones and things like that,” said Nermark.
”So we have to make a great experience so that you think it’s worthwhile playing our games.”
”If we put shooting in our game, it has to be top-notch shooting, and it has to be competing there, and it has to be right for the game. If it’s driving, it has to be right for the game. I’m not saying that, if we do a shooting game, we have to go and compete with the Battlefields or Call of Dutys, but we have to have the right kind of shooting for the game we’re making.”
”So we don’t look at it from a genre perspective anymore; we look at what kind of experience can we do and what kind of game we want to make, and whatever elements in there have to be the best for that game.”
Today Starbreeze Studios, creator of Riddick and The Darkness, employ 93 developers in Sweden. At present they also have two major projects on the go which includes Syndicate, a reboot of the EA IP. Check out the full interview between Mikael Nermark and Gamasutra, which discusses the ‘trouble with typecasting’.
Syndicate releases on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC February 21st, 2012.
