Rogue Legacy PS4 Interview: ‘Sony Was Very Pro-Active In Getting It On Their Platforms’

Rogue Legacy is an indie platform game with roguelike elements developed by Cellar Door Games. The game was recently released for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. GamingBolt caught up with Kenny Lee, co-founder of Cellar Door Games to know all about the PlayStation version.

Rashid Sayed: For those who are unaware, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your studio?

Kenny Lee: We’re two brothers that started a game development studio in 2009. We’ve dabbled in a bunch of things, but for the most part we worked on Flash games. We did that for a little while until we saved enough money and gathered enough experience to work on something larger, which ended up being the PC game, Rogue Legacy.

Rashid Sayed: What was the inspiration behind bringing a year old game to the PlayStation platforms?

Kenny Lee: Well, when we first started development of the PlayStation versions the game hadn’t been quite that old. The porting work took a little longer than expected, and we ran into a number of bumps along the way. The initial inspiration was just this idea that it would be really cool to see Rogue Legacy running on a console. Sony thought so too, and was very pro-active in getting it on their platforms.

"We decided early on not to add too much additional content for other platforms. We felt it might alienate those who supported us when the game first came out, because then they’d have to shell out more money to get the ‘definitive’ version."

Rashid Sayed: Rogue Legacy was first announced for the PlayStation platforms back in April 2013. Was there a specific reason behind the delay especially since the PC version was available since June 2013?

Kenny Lee: I don’t think we made any confirmed statements that it was coming out for PlayStation that early. If there was, it might have been misconstrued or we stated ourselves incorrectly. The actual official announcement was made by Sony during Gamescom 2013, which was in August. Even then though, we hadn’t even started work on the PlayStation versions.

Rashid Sayed: Are you shooting for any exclusive content for the PlayStation platforms?

Kenny Lee: We decided early on not to add too much additional content for other platforms. We felt it might alienate those who supported us when the game first came out, because then they’d have to shell out more money to get the ‘definitive’ version. The PlayStation versions do have all the content, including the free DLC, along with some unique trophies (like an awesome platinum) and a small number of additional traits. It also takes advantage of things specific to Sony platforms, like the light bar for the PS4 controllers.

Rashid Sayed: Is it safe to assume that Rogue Legacy will be running at 1080p and 60fps on the PlayStation 4?

Kenny Lee: That is a safe assumption to make, yes.

Rashid Sayed: The PlayStation 4 comes packed in with several features like Share Button but what is it about the PS4’s architecture that you liked and did not liked about?

Kenny Lee: Honestly, for a game like Rogue Legacy it’s hard to find things not to like about the hardware. It’s not like it’s pushing any hardware boundaries, and all the features that the PS4 has adds to the experience in positive ways. For us, sharing videos was a very big one. When RL released on PC last year, videos of it lit up on Twitch and YouTube, which is something we weren’t expecting at all. So it was really awesome to know that that sort of feature, which was impossible on last-gen systems, is now available for the current consoles. It was terrific timing for us.

"Honestly, I thought having a Kinect included in the Xbox One was a great idea. Not so much the always-on, creepy privacy invasion though."

Rashid Sayed: As an indie developer, how difficult or challenging is it to present your games to the consumer, when compared to AAA studios?

Kenny Lee: It’s tough to compare because we don’t know the process for AAA studios. For us, we had to do a lot of guerilla marketing because we didn’t have the budget or the access to things like TV commercials. We were also very fortunate because Rogue Legacy had a few talking points that really helped its word-of-mouth. Things like the Rogue-lite concept and the traits allowed fans to easily explain what made the game unique to their friends. A lot of people have come to us asking for advice on how to market their game, and it makes us feel uneasy because it heavily depended on the game’s content.

Rashid Sayed: You guys have worked across gaming PCs and now the PlayStation 4. Is it safe to assume that PS4 is a high end PC or is it more of marketing term that is loosely used by developers and publishers alike?

Kenny Lee: We couldn’t really answer to that because the game we made is not a massive resource hog. Maybe if we had to really push the power of the PS4 we’d be able to give more insight.

Rashid Sayed: Rogue Legacy has been announced for a number of platforms but not for the Xbox One. Is there a specific reason for the same?

Kenny Lee: Yup. That’s because we have an exclusivity agreement with Sony.

Rashid Sayed: What are your thoughts on the Kinect Less Xbox One SKU, do you think that will help regain some of the good will that Microsoft have lost since the launch?

Kenny Lee: Honestly, I thought having a Kinect included in the Xbox One was a great idea. Not so much the always-on, creepy privacy invasion though. As a developer, it’s fantastic to work on hardware that you know everybody has. And the Kinect is an incredible piece of technology. But now that the market is fragmented, it’s harder to justify investing in this tech. So when I heard the news it sadden me a bit, although to be fair I don’t think developers were jumping on it as readily as Microsoft had anticipated.

To answer the question, yes I do believe it will help regain lost ground with consumers, which in turn strengthens developer confidence in the platform. The biggest problem is the Kinect came out of the gate with a bad rep. It was always watching you, there were rumours of companies exploiting the tech, and it made the Xbox One cost more than the PS4. Getting rid of that solves a lot of problems.

"The game is fully cross-buy and cross-save enabled between the PS3, PS4, and PS Vita."

Rashid Sayed: Are there any plans to support cross buy and cross save between the PlayStation platforms?

Kenny Lee: Yup, the game is fully cross-buy and cross-save enabled between the PS3, PS4, and PS Vita.

Rashid Sayed: Are you guys working on any other projects at the moment?

Kenny Lee: We’ve been trying for a while now. Unfortunately it’s been on and off, because work on the ports for Rogue Legacy keeps coming up. Hopefully once it finally releases we’ll have more time to work on the fun stuff, actual game development.

Rashid Sayed: Is there anything else you want to say before we take off?

Kenny Lee: As always, just to thank fans of Rogue Legacy for the incredible support they’ve shown us for the last year. And we hope the PlayStation versions don’t disappoint!