Recently, we sent across some questions to developers 3D Realms about their upcoming Ion Maiden, the throwback to classic shooters like Duke Nukem and DOOM, talking about a number of things to do with the shooter, its design philosophies, and much more. After speaking about Ion Maiden in some detail, our questions veered to other topics, as they often do, and we asked 3D Realms founder and chief creative officer Scott Miller about what he hopes and expects to see from the next generation of consoles.
Miller’s answer was quite interesting. While many developers have told GamingBolt that they’d like to see things such as photorealistic visuals, or implementation of cloud technology, or an evolution of existing architecture in the PS5 and the Xbox Scarlett, Miller instead hopes to see a push in physics mechanics.
“Physics,” Miller simply said when we posed the question of his expectations from next-gen hardware. “I think this is the next frontier for gaming. With graphics we’ve reached a point of diminishing returns. But having accurate real-world physics can make a game world seem far more real, and open up all kinds of new gameplay possibilities.”
But that’s not all he hopes to see. After speaking about his hopes for improved physics, Miller then went on to mention “greatly expanded multiplayer”. And when he says “greatly expanded”, he really means it.
“But also, greatly expanded multiplayer, too,” Miller said. “Imagine 10,000 or 100,000 people live in a game world. This would usher in event gaming like we’ve never seen before. You could literally have a major band playing on a stage (motion capped live) and attended by 100,000 people who buy tickets to be in the audience. And, if the band sells a million tickets, you have them playing in 10 different outdoor venues around the world, and fans get to buy tickets to whichever venue they want.”
While for now all we can do is speculate, recent rumours have pegged reveals for next-gen consoles to take place in 2019, while analysts also believe that this is a possibility.
3D Realms’ Ion Maiden is due out in 2019 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Stay tuned to GamingBolt, our full interview with Scott Miller will be going live soon.