Note: This was a group interview.

"We have a great writing team. Our writing department has just been stellar with trying to weave all the different lore and the canon that’s is— the game is deep now"

How did Borderlands 3 become such a social game? Are there any new social interactions that we can look forward to?

Borderlands at its core has always been a co-op experience. We really wanted people to engage with their friends or play with people online. We have couch co-op. We still have that in Borderlands 3 because it’s been important since day one in the franchise. There’s a multitude of ways in the new entry we are allowing people to send items through the mail system. So if you find something really cool or you find something that you know a friend of yours might enjoy, you can send it to them. There’s also dynamic missions that we called the Rare Spawns at the bounty board that you can go to in Sanctuary 3, our hub.

Now our friend may have seen [a specific] type of enemy in the game, and out will pop it into our game with dynamic missions. So now we can go on the hunt. These are some of the ways that we’re nudging, showing them that there’s a larger community out there. I personally enjoy playing solo, and I know players that do. But we want to show that there’s other people out there. We got to look at the vending machine. In the past those have always been just populated by the system. Now I can go in my own solo game and see one of my friend’s items from my friends list because they sold it in there. We wanted to make this the best co-op experience possible, even when you’re playing alone.

Narrative hasn’t been big in loot-based games. Borderlands seems to take that initiative, take that step. This narrative going to continue being a big part of Borderlands 3?

Yeah. I think so. We have a great writing team. Our writing department has just been stellar with trying to weave all the different lore and the canon that’s is— the game is deep now. Borderlands 1 came out back in 2009, and there’s a lot of pieces that we’re putting together. There’s always lots of characters the fans and community love.

We want to make sure we build on those things. In this latest entry we have the Calypso Twins. We’re chasing them down across the galaxy, keeping them from opening all of these vaults and getting this ultimate power. So we can stop them from overrunning with all of their evil deeds. Narrative in this one is definitely important and we want to make sure that that coincides in a very good way, with our new gameplay and the things that fans have grown to love about the series.

Let’s talk about guns. In the Borderlands franchise guns have went from normal to super crazy. Moving into Borderlands 3, there’s going to be an exponentially larger number of guns coming out this time. The designs are ridiculous: we have a walking, talking gun, a gun that shoots swords, and so on. How important was the design process in terms of coming up with the different types of guns?

That’s always a thing that we think about, right? A lot of that stuff comes from the team interacting with each other. A lot of our guns start with getting in a room together and bouncing things around with each other, and coming up with crazy things like that. There are certainly things we wanted to do in the past, or we are thinking about doing in the future. So a lot of that comes together whenever we are in their building the game. The challenge with making all of the different guns is finding the right touch to mix with that gameplay, and mix with those barriers.

Like you said. there are different guns that do different things. We have guns that shoot hamburgers. We have guns with legs, or ones that bounces. But all of these go into the game with the way that you’re playing, too. You can set up those different combat pockets in the game knowing how those guns interact. We have the Atlas guns for the first time in this game, where you can actually place a tracker dart and now you’re smart bullets— you can go hide around the corner and shoot and it will tackle them.

If you saw the newest trailer, we have a gun that shoots guns. I think that’s the most meta thing that we could’ve done. The team is really great. Jimmy Barnett and those guys who work with guns have a passion and dedication to building on top of the foundation that we’ve already laid down throughout the series. We’re always trying to top ourselves. One of the things I like to say is that we get better or we get worse, you never stay the same. So you have to constantly be trying to get better with each thing you do each day. That embodies the team at Gearbox. We try to build on what we’ve done before and work together and expand on different types of gameplay and the guns themselves.

"It’s much bigger than Borderlands 2. There’s all different types of side missions, there’s the main mission, of course. Then there’s other things like all of the different challenges that we have: like the rare spawns, and the enemy hunts, the crew challenges. There’s so much to do in the game that I can’t express enough."

Does the think tank on these ideas ever run dry?

No. There’s all kinds of whiteboards all over the place. It’s funny because we’ll walk into a meeting and see something just randomly written on the dry board. We just know somebody was in here thinking of ideas for something— It’s really random but it’s got to mean something.

We’re always thinking of things. We have different channels where we come together and, “Hey, what if we try and do this thing?“ We have so many people at the studio and great ideas come from everywhere. We take them from the front desk support up to Randy himself. Everyone has different ideas and different opinions, and they all matter.

Speaking about players being able to send gifts or items to friends they like. Is there any chance of sending something to a buddy they’d like to mess with that they may not appreciate?

There’s nothing in the game that people don’t like, right? You can send whatever. That goes with grenades, different shields and things like that, too. So if there is one with some type of debuff on it, or some type of dynamic change that can happen if you do a thing, stick it in there and maybe it will get past them like, “Oh, hey! There’s a lot of health on this.“ Then it explodes on them.

Talking about playing solo. For someone who wants to go about this game solo, how many hours of gameplay would they be looking at?

I don’t know how many hours that we’ve talked about. It’s much bigger than Borderlands 2. There’s all different types of side missions, there’s the main mission, of course. Then there’s other things like all of the different challenges that we have: like the rare spawns, and the enemy hunts, the crew challenges. There’s so much to do in the game that I can’t express enough. And those are just different mission type things you can do. There’s also exploration, boss runs, things like that. So there’s a ton of content.

Coming from previous entries each with beloved antagonists, what was most intimidating about creating the next big antagonist of Borderlands 3?

To answer that question, it’s the same answer. We are in a streaming, YouTubing, live culture, right? So it’s the balance of hitting that and making that right. But also not being too over the top that the people that we love, the people that they’re based on are taken aback by that, right? We’re not making fun of all streamers, or all YouTubers. We are just saying there are some, and the influence these guys have are taking it too far to the left. They’re making it to where they’re trying to take over the galaxy now. They’re actually trying to recruit and broadcast and unite all the bandit clans for evil streaming deeds.

We know that all of the vault hunters each have their own unique play style and strengths. Does that mean some vault hunters will work better in single player mode and others for co-op play?

No, I don’t think so. Because now we have the multiple action skills, there’s not really a way to say that one works much better in co-op. We want to make sure that people can play literally anyway that they want. They can make their vault hunters anyway that they want, style them, customize them the way that they want. You can play solo or cooperatively and it still works just as good.

What can we expect from Borderland 3’s endgame and the types of post-content stuff?

So there’s a lot of things that we’re doing with endgame content. If you played Borderlands 2 than you kind of have an idea where we’re going with that. That’s not something we’re going to talk about today, endgame, post launch DLC or anything like that. We’re really focused on making sure we have the most polished experience that we possibly can when we launch on September 13.

"I don’t know too much about the accessibility. I know that we have several different options and several different modes that the guys on the game field team— we actually have our own department within the department that works on accessibility, because it’s really important to us."

Accessibility is a big topic in gaming today. What have you done to make the game more accessible to everybody for people who are just diving into Borderlands for the first time? How newcomer friendly is it?

I don’t know too much about the accessibility. I know that we have several different options and several different modes that the guys on the game field team— we actually have our own department within the department that works on accessibility, because it’s really important to us. But as far as newcomers coming into the series, it’s a first person shooter. If you’ve ever played a first person shooter game than you’ll feel right at home.

The recruitment walk-through that we did with Claptrap in the beginning of the game, we want to make sure that is stepping people through and showing them how to play the game. We want to make sure that even if you’ve been here since 2009 or you’re playing for the first time in 2019, that you can pick the game up and understand that we’re giving it everything that you need to be successful and really enjoy the experience.

Will iridium still be a highly sought after currency?

There are a lot of different uses for iridium in this game.

Is this in terms of gameplay or is it just in terms of story or is it both?

It’s a little bit of both. There’s a few different things.

Can you talk about the character progression system and how that’ll work?

We really wanted tight gameplay and gun feel. The team has worked really hard where the game feels really good whenever you’re shooting from the hip and when you’re aiming. Going back to your earlier question, we wanted to make sure people who are playing this game for the first time feels really good to them as well. Things like progressing on the characters: we’ve added things like slide and now butt-stomping is back in this.

There are different ways for you to attack different combat pockets. You don’t have to just take enemies head on. We have destructible cover, and different destructible barrels that kind of interact. So there are so many different ways for you to tackle things. You can run and slide behind cover, or you can jump on top and kick a barrel over it. And those things interact with other things. Like spark barrels interact with water, fire barrels interact with oil. There is a lot of cover that’s destructible.

Enemies are a lot smarter, and our AI is a lot tighter in this game as well. Even if those guys want to go and hide behind wood, we can shoot through it and still take them out.

In new game plus, enemies used to develop resistance against elemental damage. Will that be replaced?

We wanted to replace that. This was one of the things our creative director Paul really wanted to make sure, that you didn’t have to have “this thing“ to play “this way.” It makes it to where your gameplay is directed with one choice. That’s not what we want to do in Borderlands 3. We want you to be able to play however you want, whenever you want.

The way that it was before was challenging. Whenever we tackle Borderlands 3 we want to be sure that wasn’t an issue. With the addition of radiation, that’s a really cool element that we added to kind of amplify the gameplay. So now you can hit enemies and apply damage over time, but also if they’re next to their buddies— now that it explodes they can pass it on to someone else.

How important is it to make Borderlands transparent to the gaming community and to yourselves?

It’s extremely important. That’s kind of what we’ve been talking about ever since we announced and showed things at the reveal event presentation. There are so many different options because not everyone has this one archetype, or this one thing that they want to do. Even with our vault hunters, my Maura will feel different from your Maura. Even with look and feel and play style. That’s because that opens up the accessibility to that volume of people. There’s more people that will play and enjoy it because they feel things resonate with them. There are so many different things for you to be able to make it the way you want to play. It will be your personal experience.

"I like to call her Not-So-Tiny Tina. She’s in the game. She’s always been a fan favorite. We love her. We’re really excited that she’s in Borderlands 3."

How many different environments will there be in the game?

There’s a few. So far we’ve shown three. But there’s more than that.

So Tiny Tina is all grown up. Do they still call her Tiny Tina and does she still play D&D?

I would assume that she does. I like to call her Not-So-Tiny Tina. She’s in the game. She’s always been a fan favorite. We love her. We’re really excited that she’s in Borderlands 3.

Will Borderlands 3 release on Nintendo Switch, and if not why?

We don’t have any plans for it to be on Switch. As far as why, I don’t know.

Promising a fully customizable and interchangeable character class system, you can design your character to fit your preferred play style and edit him or her exactly how you want along the way. With so many unanswered questions still out there about Cyberpunk 2077, we had a chance to sit down with CD Projekt RED’s Quest Director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz to figure out what answers we could uncover about their next big game.

"We are trying to take the experience from The Witcher 3 in order to create the same quality of quests – in terms of side quests and main quests. We are still sticking to choices and consequences, handcrafted designs and so on. On top of that we’re adding this element that brings more quality and more interesting outcomes to specific quests."

It’s been about a year since we saw Cyberpunk 2077. What can you tell us about the improvements CD Projekt Red have made to the game since then?

I think the biggest improvement we’ve made so far, and the one we wanted to highlight with this specific demo was introducing this layer of gameplay narrative to the game. This is what we showed in the mall in Pacifica. We show you that the different skills you develop can impact the way you play through these levels — through these missions in a very heavy way.

For example, you can choose to shoot your way through with heavy weapons, with light weapons, you can stealth through, you can hack different devices, you can use specific skills to open new passages. Like, if you invest heavily into strength, you can open specific passages that would otherwise be not available to you. I think this is one big thing we didn’t show last year.

How deep are you into development?

There are a number of systems we are still working on. For example, the driving mode, and the shooting, and so on. We are iterating on those. We are still working on assets, the game is still being published, and so on.

Let’s talk about quests and side quests. The Witcher 3 has better written side quests than most games manage even for their main campaigns. They were quite long too. How will Cyberpunk 2077 top that?

First of all, we are trying to take the experience from The Witcher 3 in order to create the same quality of quests – in terms of side quests and main quests. We are still sticking to choices and consequences, handcrafted designs and so on. On top of that we’re adding this element that brings more quality and more interesting outcomes to specific quests. Because in The Witcher, when you reached the combat it ended one way, right? You defeated your enemies by sword, bombs, or signs. This time around [in Cyberpunk 2077] you can avoid combat altogether, you can find different passages. You utilize the skills that you develop in your character the way you want the game to be played.

Speaking on the moments you’ve mentioned about completing the game without killing anyone, are there any advantages or disadvantages to that? Is there any sort of moral system for those types of accomplishments?

We don’t have a moral system per se. However, to complete it non-lethally you have to be very good at stealth. Invest in points that allow you to stealth better, use weapons that will allow you to incapacitate the enemy instead of killing them, to make the moral choices that will allow you to avoid killing people throughout the game.

"It’s a huge challenge. We’ve got some big shoes to fill. It’s a big game to follow up, right? The Witcher 3 was so popular and so beloved by the fans. So of course, a lot of people had thoughts about this. We want to deliver a game better than just on-par."

How did development feel going from the art direction of The Witcher 3 to such a drastic change that appears in Cyberpunk 2077?

It took us multiple years to figure out how we wanted to approach the game. At first, we started somewhere by the time The Witcher 3 was already in development. We created a smaller team that started working on the setting itself. How does it relate to the original [Cyberpunk] 2020; how the architecture and art style should be, and so on. It was a long process that took multiple years between the writers, between the concept artists, between the artists from The Witcher 3 project, and so on. It was a lot of work and a huge challenge since it was a new setting for us. But I think we’ve reached something very special and something truly interesting.

The Witcher 3 is one of the greatest games of this generation. Do you feel nervous that all your games will be compared to it in terms of expectations?

Of course. It’s a huge challenge. We’ve got some big shoes to fill. It’s a big game to follow up, right? The Witcher 3 was so popular and so beloved by the fans. So of course, a lot of people had thoughts about this. We want to deliver a game better than just on-par. It is a different game, for sure. But at the same time we wanted to take our experiences from previous games in building this game.

How many different kinds of weapons will this game have? Also, can you talk about their customization?

You can customize the weapons in a number of ways. You can attach scopes, you can attach silencers, things like those. It’s based, of course, on a specific weapon and how many slots for improvements do they have. As for how many types of weapons we have— I remember just a number of them. But we have quite many of them. So there are melee weapons: katana, hammer, knife, Nanowire — which is basically these wires that you can use to fight. But you can also use them if you’re a Netrunner to hack remotely into people or devices. On top of that we have a number of ranged weapons: we have heavy guns, light guns, light machine guns, revolvers, sniper rifles.

How has the augmentation system evolved in the last year?

The augmentation system works in a way that you can replace different body parts. So you can replace your legs, arms, chest, nervous system, and so on. The amount of customization is quite vast. Once you, for example, replace your legs with cyberware legs you can double jump. Which gives you access to specific new places you wouldn’t have otherwise. On top of that you can also upgrade what you’ve already installed. For example, the double jump legs. You can upgrade them with silence for running to help with stealth. We were working on the designs for cyberware for quite a while. Thinking of different things we could do with it. I think the designers by now have a pretty cool design of what they want to have in the game. It is in development.

"The city of course, is not only the landmass, but also the buildings."

Is there any one cool feature that you guys are doing for the very first time in Cyberpunk 2077?

A number of them actually. Since we worked on fantasy games before we never did driving cars. We never did gun play. We never did the skill checks — which I’m really excited about. That’s one of the things we showed in the demo. Now we have the system of life path that leads to additional dialogue options, that can push the narrative in specific quests in different directions. For example, if you have a corporal background when you’re talking to other agents, you have more knowledge of how they operate and how to talk to them to reach your goals. As a street kid you wouldn’t have that knowledge. But you use that knowledge [of being a street kid] on the gangs, right?

How dense will the game world be and will there be an abundance of things to explore and find?

The game is quite big in terms of content. There are six main districts in the city, divided into subdistricts. We like to call them different biomes. Meaning that they have different architecture, they have different groups— like gangs. It feels like totally different worlds to me, personally. There are differences you might expect between the districts. On top of that we have the badlands, which are the areas around the city. This kind of wasteland is where the nomads sometimes tread, and people from the city don’t actually go there. A lot of these areas have their own points of interest, side quests, things to find. So there’s a lot to do. We’re looking forward to it.

What can you tell us about the vertical elements in the game?

The city of course, is not only the landmass, but also the buildings. There is a number of them that you can enter. Not all of them, but a number of them you can enter that we have prepared content for. They have levels, and you can traverse these levels in different ways. This adds a lot of space to the city, I would say.

Will there be any romantic relationship systems within the game?

We have a number of romances throughout the game that you could participate in. You can form relationships as you make choices in the narrative. The exact amount I would rather not divulge at this point. I don’t want to spoil the story. But we do have relationships.

The Witcher 3 was announced to release on Nintendo Switch here at E3. Is there a chance Cyberpunk 2077 can make it in there, or is it too big for the system to support?

Right now we are focusing on only three platforms: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4.

"I’m really excited about this game. I was excited to be introduced to the game to improve the role-playing experience for the player. I’m really excited that we can have these features in the game."

Are there any plans for post-launch DLC?

At this moment we are focusing on the content for the main game. We still have work to do. We have a release date as you know. That’s what we’re focusing on right now.

The game looks visually stunning. We’re at the end of this generation with Xbox Scarlett having been announced for a holiday 2020 release. Is Cyberpunk 2077 possibly a cross-gen game?

Right now we’re focusing on these three platforms that I mentioned. And that’s what we’re putting all our efforts into right now.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I’m really excited about this game. I was excited to be introduced to the game to improve the role-playing experience for the player. I’m really excited that we can have these features in the game.

"We decided to include eFootball into the product name. We want to make clear moving forward that esports has a very, very big role in our product in terms of tournaments."

What was the motivation behind the name change behind the game with the addition of eFootball?

We want to underline our focus on esports. We decided to include eFootball into the product name. We want to make clear moving forward that esports has a very, very big role in our product in terms of tournaments. But also the opportunity for players to grow in esports with our product.

Most football fans want to know what is PES doing differently this year and how you plan to the franchise better?

Obviously, gameplay is very important for us. The team worked on the gameplay this year. They’ve worked closely with Iniesta who became a PES advisor. He gave us loads of input in terms of realism, where we should tweak the gameplay to make it more realistic. We included something called Finesse Dribble, which is a new dribbling technique that can be done with the right stick. We worked on our brand identity— from the main menu to the in-game camera. These changes are based on feedback from our community— that’s something we’re really looking forward to to sharing with the fans.

Master League has been updated. Master League is like career— where you start from scratch and build your club, progress, and you win championships. This mode is in a three-year development plan. We are in year two of it. We’ve got new features such as realistic transfer system, to active cut scenes, dialogue system, you have your very own story. We also added Legends to this mode. Also we have a completely new mode called Match Type. Match Type reflects the real world derbies — or rivalries — in the real football world. During the week, thousands of players play for one side or the other side, and at the end of each week we have the big final where the best player will play against each other. Online you can watch everything through a live stream. It’s a competitive element but it’s also a community mode. It’s something we’re really excited to share with our fans.

The graphics for eFootball PES 2020 seem to be leaps and bounds above last year’s game. What work was put into accomplishing this?

The graphics already are really good in the game, really amazing. This year the team worked on certain elements. One of it is the lighting engine. We improve the lighting engine, the players, the stadiums, the stands. Now they’re all brought to life. Also the dynamic lighting which is among the shadows which have been improved and made more realistic. And our 3D scans or photo realism and player likenesses.

"Player animations have been added, additional skills that have been added to the game. We have a new feature called Inspire. This feature is around the players individuality, skill set, but also how the teammates are behaving."

What improvements have you made to moment to moment gameplay?

Player animations have been added, additional skills that have been added to the game. We have a new feature called Inspire. This feature is around the players individuality, skill set, but also how the teammates are behaving. So if you play with someone like Messi, who is a very good dribbler, your teammates will be ready accordingly. So they’ll spread out to give you space so you can do the dribble. If you play with someone who is very good at passing, like Iniesta, your players will get into the right direction to get into position to receive the ball. So the AI overall is way more adaptive.

One of PES’ biggest issues in recent years has been matchmaking and servers- what improvements is 2020 making on that front?

Our development team are aware of certain challenges we faced last time. And they’re working on improvements for this one. The online mode is super important for us when it comes down to esports. Our team is focused on making the online experience better.

Lack of licenses is something that the PES games often draw criticism for- what are your thoughts on that? Do you feel it has a tangible impact on the quality of the game, or is focusing on on-pitch improvements more important in your view?

“Lack of licenses” is a bit harsh. Because last year for example, we added loads of license, especially in Europe. This year, all I can say— I can’t going to detail— we’ll make more licensing announcement soon. So in the next couple of weeks, months will announce new licenses.

Do you have any plans to launch on Switch?

No. Put it this way, not for 2020. But the game will be released on PS4, Xbox One and PC. We’re obviously keeping an eye on the Switch. We are aware of the Switch as a console. And myself— I’m a big fan. But right now PES 2020 will not be released on the Switch.

"We cannot go into details regarding [PS4 Pro and Xbox One X] specs. We’ll, most likely when the demo’s coming out, we will reveal more information about that, as well."

What resolution and frame rate does the game run on the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X?

We cannot go into details regarding those specs. We’ll, most likely when the demo’s coming out, we will reveal more information about that, as well.

"Obviously, it’s a monumental feat. The development team have done a really good job at bring the game to life. "

The Dragon Ball Z anime is one of the biggest worldwide phenomenon across all media- what’s it like to have the responsibility of adapting it to video game form, which has doubtless been a dream for millions for so long?

Obviously, it’s a monumental feat. The development team have done a really good job at bring the game to life. Some have been known to work on the Ultimate Ninja Storm series. So they really nailed down that transitioning the anime content to the actual game content to that cel-shaded style. They’ve done an amazing job, and those guys are hardcore fans of Dragon Ball, too. So this is a dream game to work on.

Can you tell us how much of the anime is covered by Kakarot?

we have an announced how much content is in the game. But if you look at the E3 trailer you’ll see some of the Saipan Saga, as well as his door with Frieza. So, more information to come. So if the title has anything to say about the game that should be enough info.

Combat is supremely important in any Dragon Ball title, given the source material- what sort of combat system Kakarot will be going for?

Here, with the producer wanted to do was emulate a Dragon Ball Z anime that turns into an actual game. We really wanted it to be more real time, and we wanted it to feel monumental. So when you go into a battle say it’s Radditz — say it’s a boss — it’s not going to be equal footing. It’s not going to be Dragon Ball FighterZ. It’s definitely real time action, with trademark moves from the enemy, as well.

You originally announced Project Z as a 2019 title, but Kakarot’s announcement confirms it as a 2020 release. Can you tell us why it got delayed?

We really just wanted to work on it more. The team wants to do an awesome job, pushing the game out and doing the anime content justice.

"We really just wanted to work on it more. The team wants to do an awesome job, pushing the game out and doing the anime content justice."

Does Kakarot add stories and characters of its own on top of what it shows from the anime, or are you developing it purely as a faithful adaptation?

It’s based on Dragon Ball Z, but if you can tell from the demo, there’s characters like Nam who appeared in the original Dragon Ball anomie. So you’ll see some of those secrets. And that’s just a nod to help big the producer is the franchise as a whole. So lots of interactions in the story as well, too.

How large of an open world environment can we expect to see in Kakarot?

We’re not actually touting this as an open world game. They really wanted to emulate the anime experience. In the anime, Goku didn’t just go around fighting random guys. These worlds are very vast, and as you can see from the demo. You can explore a lot of different things and do a lot of different activities. So this is a good slice of what kind of maps are going to be in the game.

Can you speak to us about world traversal in Kakarot and how it will function, mechanically speaking?

In the game you have Nimbus, that’s Goku’s tried and true transportation through Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Also, you can fly yourself. More information to come on how you can travel through the game.

About how long can players expect an average playthrough of Kakarot to be?

We haven’t revealed that. I can tell you this, it’s not going to be like 12 episodes, or 12 hours for one battle, right? That would be amazing. I think that’s how it should be. If this is any indication, the Saiyan Saga has a lot of monumental battles and different phases. More to come in the future.

Do you have any plans for a Switch version?

Right now, we are developing for PS4, Xbox One and PC. Those are the only platform we’re looking at at the moment.

"This game is basically a love letter to all Dragon Ball Z fans."

What resolution and frame rate does the game run on the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X?

I know we’re supported for 4K. But I’ll have to double check and confirm those features.

Our time’s almost up here. Is there anything else you’d like to add about Dragon Ball Z Kakarot?

This game is basically a love letter to all Dragon Ball Z fans. It’s been a long time since we’ve had an action RPG based on mechanics in Dragon Ball Z [anime]. As you’ve said, it’s grown into such a big pop cultural phenomenon, and we’re excited for Dragon Ball Z fans as well as new fans of the franchise as well.

The developers at Codemasters had a heavy task at hand. After a rocky road with the GRID series, they decided to bring the franchise back to its glory days. With that being the draw to the franchise reboot, I can say that yes, I am excited to get my hands on the full version when it releases later this year.

When I got my hands on the controller for the demo at E3 2019, I really felt the traction of the road, the curves of the track, and the adrenaline of passing my opponents. What’s also very impressive is that GRID has a ridiculous amount of content that will be available day one. The track I had a chance to play at this year’s E3 wasn’t as challenging or competitive as many of the others there will be throughout the career and multiplayer, but it gave me a sense of what the developers were going for throughout the game.

With improved traction and handling, GRID offers a new selection of options on how to turn these already extraordinary cars at your hands into the speed demons you need them to be. This comes in the form of assists for changing the balance and pitch between each car to get that perfect feeling. Nailing down exactly what car works best for you is the key to having that authenticity that makes this simulator so unique and so real.

There are tons of moments during the course of a race that were described as almost being random occurrences, such as aggressive takeovers. GRID wasn’t developed with violence in mind, but the developers don’t discourage aggressive driving. You can take the game as intended and race around the circuit, trying your best, avoiding collisions and whatnot. But there’s a level of ingenuity built into opponent AI that allows those you’re competing against in single player to take the necessary actions of passing you.

Another new and fun feature within the career is teammates. It’s possible to team up with another driver during a race to try and share a win in one fashion or another. In the demo, I was teamed up outside the race with a driver who I can trust in the game, but I can also cause him to lose my trust if I feel like it. Him or his crew can give me simple objectives, such as ‘Slow down around this bend to open up a path for me to take the lead.’

Now, I can do so and give this teammate exactly what he wants, which will earn me more respect later on with his crew and increase what the game calls a loyalty factor. Or I can decide to go my own way, ignore their directions and drive my way. If I decide to play nice, these loyal teammates will hold other drivers back for me, or attempt certain manoeuvres or takeovers that will keep me on track toward a fight for the win. How deep this loyalty factor goes within the career mode isn’t something I was able to suss out from just the demo, though, but it’s certainly an interesting mechanic.

Conversely, there are nemeses in the game, too. Nemeses are earned on the track, and this can occur at a moment’s notice. Nemeses are drivers who typically have the same level of skill as you. During another race, I found myself in the middle of the pack fighting to gain ground. As opponents passed me and I passed them, I eventually found a driver whom I was sparring with. This caused the game to label this driver as my ‘nemesis’ even though neither of us were in position to win the race. It’s ultimately dependent on chance to have an AI challenger during a race, but they always keep you on your toes.

So the racing sim is no longer about just winning, but also puts emotion into the series, as well. If for some reason you get better or worse during the race, your nemesis may change out to another driver who’s more suited to be your competition. This keeps the playing field fair without allowing a far superior nemesis to race off and leave you in the dust. Earlier when I said you can ignore your teammates’ directions and lose their loyalty, well, they can then become a nemesis, too. I was told that these features also work similarly online, except with real life players rather than AI.

My favorite part of the demo, however, was how accessible GRID has become for newcomers. Not just for me, but for anyone who’s even slightly interested in wanting to try out a racing simulator, but may be too intimidated to give it a shot. I had a chance to play with many different assists on for controls and AI, and it really opened the game up to where I was in the front of the pack in no time at all.

Turning AI down will keep these speedsters from risking their necks from taking you over, or flipping your ride around like they did me in a standard, non-assisted race. Controls can also be changed and set to allow for easier access to turns and stretches, or to show you exactly when and when not to accelerate. This never takes away from the experience for those looking to drive a true simulator. For the hardcore fans, you can simply turn all of these settings off, turn the AI up, and take the wheel for what definitely feels like a truly authentic ride.

Overall, I was very impressed with the setup and mechanics of this new GRID. I can’t wait to see the promise of 400 different in-game AIs and 72 teammates that the full version has to offer. Oh, and I got a sneak peak of all the classes completely unlocked. I can’t talk about them, but let me tell the completionists out there that you’re in for a long, long experience.

Control is a third-person action-shooter, but it delves deep in the psychological thriller and horror subgenres as well. These subgenres are glaringly present in the writing and character development, but more importantly they’re utilized in the game’s brutalist architecture that seeps from every pore in the game’s environments. Control has an intensity, a strength of uncommon commonalities that leaves you alone in a wide room and doesn’t tell you that there’s something always there watching over you from afar. Remedy’s surrealist approach uses a lot of blood red and pitch black lighting to keeps these moments of unease viable, causing your head to always wonder, “What if?” There are plenty of paranormal enemies ready to attack you at a moment’s notice, ready to rid you of life. But with Remedy’s intricately laid out level design in a world that is always changing, you’ll always maintain that feeling that a wall or pipe might come alive and attack.

The game takes place in and around the Federal Bureau of Control (FBC). This is the government’s transformative and paranormal headquarters that becomes the Oldest House. This is where protagonist Jesse Faden comes in. Jesse has recently been granted the title of Director of the Bureau, an instatement she received under unknown and mysterious circumstances thanks a sidearm she carries with her, called the Service Weapon.

Within the demo, Jesse is sent in to explore the Oldest House and find out what’s going on, what’s happening to the people of the FBC, and why they’re becoming possessed, while at the same time also being on her own mission to figure out her past from the people who know best: the FBC. And though Control is a decidedly linear experience for the most part, it often takes you through loops to be able to proceed to the next location. Unlike Quantum Break, which starts you at point A and tells you to go to point B after fighting a few enemies, Control leaves a lot of investigation at your fingertips before you can move on to the next section. This also means you’ll be able to investigate and play out side quests throughout the campaign – a first for Remedy.

Exploration and getting to know your environment is a key factor in getting far within the game, and just as important is observation. I found myself stuck in a few rooms throughout the experience, trying to figure out what is where and how to complete certain objectives. Many of the puzzles that can be found were placing power generator blocks into blank slots to reset the power to certain rooms. With Control’s brutalist approach to design, everything appears to be in place while at the same time scattered and in disarray.

It’s a very odd culmination purposefully built with style in mind that keeps these locations feeling alive, as though everything around you is moving on its own. And some things do move on their own. A lot of this can be explained by the ominous lighting effects I spoke of earlier, and how they stretch and skewer objects in the environment to make them appear more alive than what’s actually happening on-screen. And when thing actually do shift and move, you can bet something paranormal is going to happen, and it’s going to be scary.

While exploring the bloodied halls of this industrial factory within the Oldest House, the game’s enemies, called the Hiss, are always on standby, and send out authentic frights when they appear from out of nowhere. Heavily shaded in dark colors, and eagerly vicious, the Hiss are humans who have been infected by this paranormal presence – something fans of Alan Wake may find familiar. The Hiss are sneaky and like to hide behind corners or come out of doors you recently unlocked and vanish in a paranormal fog. They aren’t hard to defeat, but can easily outnumber you if you don’t take them out quickly.

And to take out these enemies, Jesse will have a sidearm with her at all times called the Service Weapon. Like many other elements within Control, the Service Weapon is also transformative, with different variations that can be unlocked with modifications. The Service Weapon is also a creature of the paranormal, meaning you don’t need to find ammo, because it never runs out.

Speaking of powers, Jesse will have a variety of powers at her disposal throughout the campaign. And like the Service Weapon, she gains experience, allowing you to upgrade her powers with modifications on a character skill tree. Within the demo I had a chance to use her psionic ability, which allows her to levitate objects and throw them around with abundant force. This power is super-helpful in tight situations, but I found myself using it even when things weren’t so tight. It’s really a lot of fun to experiment with! You can levitate just about anything that’s lying around and toss it at enemies or conveniently placed explosives to wipe out several enemies at a time. Within the demo there was also a hover-dash ability that was pretty much what it sounds like- Jesse hovers and dashes in midair and in different directions in order to reach higher or distant locations. This plays into puzzle solving later on in the game.

Overall, the experience I had in my short time with Control was great. Like I mentioned, the game feels more polished than Quantum Break did at launch, with more potential behind it. There were minimal clunky moments and areas with snags or hangups within its gameplay, too. I was really impressed wth the quality Remedy have put into Control, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the full version this August.

"The game never tells you what to do, never gives objectives. It’s up to your interpretation to figure out what’s happening."

How would you best describe 12 Minutes?

12 Minutes is an interactive thriller about a man trapped in a time loop. You play as the husband. You come in from work, have a meal with your wife, she dies, you’re accused of murder. You get beat up, pass out, wake up at the start of the same day. You have to use the knowledge of what you know is going to happen to change the loop. The loop lasts 12 Minutes in real-time. If you’re experienced at adventure games it will take 6-8 hours to come to a satisfactory conclusion for you.

The game never tells you what to do, never gives objectives. It’s up to your interpretation to figure out what’s happening. I looked to many movies and books like Memento for inspiration. Accessibility is a big thing. I made the game something everyone can try. That lead to the top-down view so navigation is accessible. You just click where you want to go. There’s no dealing with perspective and moving up and down. It also means interface is drag-and-drop. You just combine things to create interactions. I realized that allows for a pretty complex experience without losing anything.

What was the choice behind playing the entire game with one button?

Accessibility. When I started, I was doing things with a mouse like enter/open. But I realized it doesn’t bring anything but complications. With one button you can do anything. When you click on the door it’s one button. I figured I could add this logic to everything. I never needed more.

What was the concept behind the idea of having exactly 12 Minutes?

So five years ago I had this prototype, trying to show it to see if it had any potential. I was asked, “what’s the name of the game?“ Well, it lasts 12 minutes so it’s called 12 Minutes. So I tried to make the shortest most condensed time loop as possible, and I arrived at 12 Minutes.

"How do you make it exciting if it’s too broad? So this is what I learned. Originally I wanted to do 24 hours in a city. I realize it’s very hard to understand the cause-and-effect of your actions if they’re too sprawled out. And the more I can do to this, the deeper I can go into what I present to you. Then my next big question was how far can I go in such a small environment? And it kept going and going and going and going."

The entire game takes place in a single apartment. How do you keep the excitement going for 6-8 hours with no scenery changers?

Well, it’s actually the opposite. How do you make it exciting if it’s too broad? So this is what I learned. Originally I wanted to do 24 hours in a city. I realize it’s very hard to understand the cause-and-effect of your actions if they’re too sprawled out. And the more I can do to this, the deeper I can go into what I present to you. Then my next big question was how far can I go in such a small environment? And it kept going and going and going and going.

So does the man who’s re-experiencing this day over and over with his wife have some powers or knowledge on why this is happening? Is this part explained in the game?

That’s what the game is about. I hope that’s one of the drives for living the loop.

The screen doesn’t have a HUD or really any gauges that explain much. Is there a way to tell how much time is left or does that not matter?

If you right click on the mouse it tells you how much time you have left. But the game is designed in a way that you don’t need that. You learn by the cues of the environment and the sounds that are happening. And naturally you’ll know you have a minute left or two Minutes left. Early on I realize it’s not fun to be stressed with these things. I never make you pile up 15 combinations and you miss combination 14 and you have to do it again. There’s no stress, you can plan it out. It’s more knowing what you want to do, rather. So the time is there but it’s not really too short. I mean it is, but not, like, per second.

"Five years ago I had this prototype, trying to show it to see if it had any potential. I was asked, “what’s the name of the game?“ Well, it lasts 12 minutes so it’s called 12 Minutes. So I tried to make the shortest most condensed time loop as possible, and I arrived at 12 Minutes."

How does the wife play into all this? Do you have to continually go over facts with her?

She also learns from everything you’re doing. For example, if you told her the cop is coming can you ask her to not open the door, she thinks you’re joking. When [the cop] actually comes, she’s going to realize you’re telling the truth. She’s not going to open the door. She’s going to be like, “That’s the guy you’re talking about?”

"We were looking at the way gaming has changed over the last few years, and there’s a lot of spectacle in gaming now. So, the way to join gaming and spectacle-the best way to join them together as a sport. That’s where we came up with a new sport."

How did Roller Champions conceptually come about?

We were looking at the way gaming has changed over the last few years, and there’s a lot of spectacle in gaming now. So, the way to join gaming and spectacle-the best way to join them together as a sport. That’s where we came up with a new sport.

In the E3 demo we saw a single oval shaped track. Will there be any different shapes in the full version?

Currently for the E3 demo The Acapulco and Mexico City, and they’re both oval.

Is this strictly a PvP game, or does Roller Champions also offer single player experiences?

For now, it’s 3v3. But you’ll have to stay tuned closer to lunch to see what else we have in store.

What sort of customization options will be on offer when Roller Champions launches in full?

Will be able to talk about that closer to lunch. For now, there are six characters you can play, so you can focus on the gameplay because we really want your feedback.

"What we wanted to do was make something accessible to all of us, and everyone. So the conception is that it’s not quite fantasy, it’s not quite reality, and it’s in the middle between the two. That’s where it came from."

Considering that Roller Champions is going to be a free to play title, can you speak about what its monetization will be like? I understand that a lot of that might not be ironed out just yet, but in broad terms, are we looking at cosmetic microtransactions only? Will there be loot boxes?

It’s a little early to say. We’ll tell you more later on.

What was behind the choices of making this game ultra-colorful and the beautifully animated graphic style?

What we wanted to do was make something accessible to all of us, and everyone. So the conception is that it’s not quite fantasy, it’s not quite reality, and it’s in the middle between the two. That’s where it came from.

Can you talk to us about what we can expect to see from progression in the game? 

Currently on the live play demo that’s on PC, you progress through gaining fans. So, it’s like being a sports superstar, the more fans you get, the more you progress.

Is Roller Champions going to offer multiple modes?

For now, that’s all we have. Closer to lunch will let you know.

"What they wear in the way they look have nothing to do with the way they play. All the characters have the same skill sets. Really what it is is that we have the basic mechanics of the game, letting the players figure out new ways of playing the game a new tactics."

What effect does the gear have on the game and how one plays it?

What they wear in the way they look have nothing to do with the way they play. All the characters have the same skill sets. Really what it is is that we have the basic mechanics of the game, letting the players figure out new ways of playing the game a new tactics. We want you to create your own story with it. So, it really is like being in sports and training, and tactics and doing your own things.

Contra as a series has been dormant for a while, as far as new mainline entries are concerned. What prompted a return to this franchise?

It’s the 30th anniversary of the franchise. So we thought that would be the perfect time to bring the franchise back. Besides that, some of the old Contra games are on the SNES Mini and people were happy to see these games back. We have this kind of retro game boom right now. So we thought this was perfect timing to bring old glory back to modern days.

"So the new game has 3-D graphics, new characters, new camera angle, so it may surprise the fans. But we’re keeping the same Contra feeling in terms of mechanics."

Was there ever a conversation during early development days about maybe making this a side scrolling 2D title like the classic Contra games?

Yes. Of course Contra Rogue Corps was based on the 2D scrolling games. But what we’re really enjoying is playing the game with your brother or your sister, and we wanted to expand that to four players. But having four players on screen in a 2D scrolling game is kind of messy. So we thought that make in the game for 3D would have a different point of you that would be easier for the players to understand where they are and what they’re doing.

There are millions of veteran series fans that are going to go into Rogue Corps with loads of expectations, considering the pedigree and value attached to the Contra name. What’s it like for you as developers to shoulder that responsibility?

So the new game has 3-D graphics, new characters, new camera angle, so it may surprise the fans. But we’re keeping the same Contra feeling in terms of mechanics. It’s easy to control. You have the same feeling from the first enemy to the last enemy, when you’re killing enemies. That would be for the fans that would be when they were playing real games.

"This time we don’t just have two men fighting, we have a variety of different characters."

What was the idea behind using comic book style graphics rather than full movie-style cutscenes?

This time we don’t just have two men fighting, we have a variety of different characters. So we wanted A style that could match any kind of character. Besides the atmosphere in Contra, I think it’s fitting to use this comic book art in the game. So it’s easy for us to choose this art to make these classes.

"Coming up with a compelling world, compelling characters, ideas for the supernatural that we often feature in our games- once we have those ironed out and we establish a direction that is clear and striking, we start to put these pieces together. "

The imagery of Control looks visually striking, but how do you as developers ensure that it translates to an equally unusual gameplay experience?

I don’t think there’s a silver bullet to that, necessarily. It’s us spending time figuring out other core concepts of the game. Coming up with a compelling world, compelling characters, ideas for the supernatural that we often feature in our games- once we have those ironed out and we establish a direction that is clear and striking, we start to put these pieces together. There’s a lot of testing, iterations, seeing what works. It’s a big process to find something. Then they’re happy accidents; we try something out and it looks totally different. It still looks cool, but then we massage it to work with the rest. It’s a combination of predictable and unpredictable things. The key is that you keep at it and refine until you’re happy with the end result.

Keeping with the topic of Control’s imagery- it seems very well suited to virtual reality. Is that a consideration?

No, not really. The game is so fast-paced, based on the very physical movements of the character. I think it would be quite a nauseous experience if we were to translate this to virtual reality. Interesting question, though. It makes me think, “Should we do something like that?”

Everything we’ve seen of Control so far exhibits that hallmark of Remedy game, of vivid and almost psychedelic visuals, which we’re sure will play a big role in the narrative as well- but it seems like it’s all been cranked up to 11. Do you think it’s just been a natural progression, and you’ve continued to take on the lessons you’ve learned with previous projects, or were there other influences outside of your own work that you also looked to specifically for this game?

Yes, I think so. The way that Control began with world development as well as gameplay development and things like that. Because it’s a brand new IP we wanted to create— “What is this world?” “What genres are we inspired by?” The visual design for the Oldest House by our world director— he’s very specific about brutalism architecture, which also includes the way environments are leaked. So yes, there’s been a natural progression, I think.

It also feeds into each other. It’s also a stark contrast to Jesse. Like Jesse is an ordinary woman with experience of the supernatural in her childhood. Her brother goes missing, the bureau has taken her brother, and she is there to uncover what happened to him. She’s not a stranger to the supernatural, but this place is very government bureaucracy, scientific understanding of things — where she’s more intuitive of these things. She is a stark contrast to this place, which adds more interest to her journey as director of the bureau.

"With Quantum Break, we tried to find a good balance between cinematic style and gameplay. But it often led to compromise we wanted to avoid. "

What lessons have you taken from Quantum Break that you’ve implemented into Control?

With Quantum Break, we tried to find a good balance between cinematic style and gameplay. But it often led to compromise we wanted to avoid. In Control, we, for instance, kind of rethought how to capture animation in the sense of the control you have over the character, and so on. Everything is way more responsive, immediate, clean and clear. The gameplay is more aggressive, more involving, you need to really pay attention and learn, invest yourself into the experience to succeed. Initially it could be a challenging game, but once you respect what it’s putting in front of you, it’s a lot of fun. I think that’s one thing that we wanted to make more, something that demands participation from the player— so it’s not just something that you run through and you’re done.

We also explored new ways for Remedy to tell stories. So there’s a lot more environmental storytelling, audio logs to uncover, documents, we have side missions in Control, which is new to Remedy games. [Previous games have] largely been tailored, beautiful, linear, single-player games. Where is with Control, we have this open-ended world, which means you can come across side missions earlier in the game, documents point you towards things to investigate.

We also have a story where you can ask characters more about aspects of the world, and how they’re involved in them. So I think Control’s a different game in that sense. There is more storytelling that was live-action in Quantum Break. We still have live-action in Control— that is a part of Remedy games. But we’ve used it in a more specific way, I think. It’s more integrated into the world than what we did in Quantum Break.

Given your emphasis on storytelling in games as a studio, have you ever considered empowering the player to influence how the story plays out in your games? Did that ever come up for Control?

In Control we’re here to tell one specific story of Jesse, what she goes through, and what she needs to do to be able to deal with the situation that she finds her self in. We have side missions— it’s not like there’s choices branching within these different plots, but there are multiple different plots you can experience in this game. No narrative choices, that was a very clear decision that that’s not what we wanted to do.

About how long would you say an average playthrough of Control would be?

We don’t have any accurate measurements because it’s a complicated, large game that can be played through in multiple ways. But the overall numbers that we’ve got, if you play the main campaign and do a few side missions, it’s like 15 to 20 hours.

"At the moment we’re really focusing on Control. Alan Wake is our IP and we all love Alan Wake. Let’s leave it at that, at this point."

What can you tell us about the game’s progression system?

There are multiple different progression systems in the game. We have one main weapon that we call the Service Weapon, it’s a shape shifting gun, basically. You can unlock more different forms for that weapon, but you need to find materials in the game world to be able to— or constructed them, is the word we are using. You can find modifications for the weapon, so it will amplify [attacks] that are exclusive to different forms. And different forms can do things like pierce, like it just goes right through the environment. There’s a close range attack, and so on. Then you have modifications that are part of Jesse. Modifications can make some of her abilities more powerful.

Then we have the abilities themselves. You can acquire abilities by finding more power and you bind them to yourself. You go through a trial called the Astral Plane. And once you manage to pull that off you’ve acquired that ability— and [the ability] launch, where you’re able to throw things around, is one of those abilities. Then you have ability points that you get through the game by completing missions, so you can unlock upgrades for specific abilities. Each ability has a simple little tree for it. So you can unlock new perks for it or make the ability itself more powerful.

Are there any plans for post-launch story DLC?

We have expansion plans, but those are for later. I think we announced that we have two expansions. But we don’t have an accurate schedule for that yet. These will complement the story of Control and extend it rather than finish it up. So Control in and of itself is a complete story.

Do you think Control can be a franchise?

We’re looking at all of our games as launcher worlds and universes of their own. We’ll see how things go but that’s the case for all the games.

Now I have to ask this question. Do you think we will ever get Alan Wake 2 and Quantum Break 2? What are the difficulties in getting these two sequels up and running?

At the moment we’re really focusing on Control. Alan Wake is our IP and we all love Alan Wake. Let’s leave it at that, at this point.

What resolution and frame rate is the game running on the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X?

Can’t talk about that yet, sorry.

"Of course, we all love more powerful hardware. It allows us to do creative, striking visual things, and so on. Especially, because we as a studio, strive for really high fidelity."

Both the PS5 and Xbox Scarlett are now confirmed to have SSD. How will this help you to improve game performance?

Well, having an SSD is fantastic because it deals with a lot of streaming issues that games tend to have. I’m with everybody else, I hate those slow moving elevators where you need to wait until a new part of the world loads up. Or awkward tunnels that you have to walk through. Getting rid of all of that is good news for everybody. And of course, we all love more powerful hardware. It allows us to do creative, striking visual things, and so on. Especially, because we as a studio, strive for really high fidelity. We’re down for technical and visual achievements as well. So I think that’s good news.