While Just Cause series creator and Liquid Swords founder Christofer Sundberg is getting ready for the April 8th release of Samson: A Tyndalston Story, he has also revealed some of his thoughts on the current state of the video game industry. In an interview with WCCFTech, Sundberg was asked how well Liquid Swords is set up for the future, and how difficult it can be to get a game made these days. He called the current state of the industry “cowardly”.
“I’ve been making games for over three decades and never experienced such a desperate, cowardly (they call it ‘risk averse’) and confused state of the business,” Sundberg said. “After the acquisition / over-investing party during ‘21-’23, we are dealing with the hangover and it’s been going on for three years.”
As for Liquid Swords, Sundberg has noted that the studio has seen not only his own personal investment, but also the 2021 investments by NetEase as having helped the studio get on its feet. Looking forward, he admitted to having laid off half of the development team to ensure that Samson: A Tyndalston Story would be released.
“We have very careful cash-flow planning as we are on a limited budget,” he explained. “Last year, we made the tough decision to lay off (I don’t call it ‘restructuring’ or any other BS term for what it actually is) half the team, to buy us a longer runway into 2026. We made a bet, and we do everything we can to deliver a fun $25 experience to lay the foundation for the future. I hope our future players will see the potential in our work and follow us on our journey to make something bigger.”
Samson: A Tyondalston Story was unveiled back in December with a trailer giving us a look at the eponymous town that the game is set in – Tyndalston. The main story seemingly revolves around the protagonist being in deep debt and having to fight on a constant basis just to stay ahead of his debtors. Adding extra tension to the proceedings is the fact that collectors will constantly send goons to make sure that they get their money back on time.
In an FAQ, Liquid Swords had revealed some more details about the title, including the fact that it won’t be entirely open-world. Rather, it will “sit between” an open-world experience and a narrative-driven with the presence of “limited areas”. Along with this, the studio has also confirmed that it will take players around 10 hours to beat the main story of Samson: A Tyndalston Story. Those interested in digging through everything the title has to offer “will spend 25 hours or more,” explained the studio.
Samson: A Tyndalston Story got its release date through a recent trailer, which also gave us a look at some of the on-foot and in-vehicle action sequences featured in the game. The studio had provided a deeper look at its combat system through a trailer from back in January. The game is making its way to PC, and Liquid Swords hasn’t revealed any plans for a console launch for now.
