Stormdivers Developer Responds to Fan Backlash

Housemarque has been known for developing fantastic arcade shoot-em-ups over the last few years. From Alienation to Resogun, to Dead Nation, and beyond, their name has come to be synonymous with great arcade style action.

The trouble is, arcade style action, great or otherwise, doesn’t have much of a market these days. Which is why last year, the developer announced it was done with arcade style games, and would move on to doing something else. Which… turned out to be a battle royale game, something that understandably got a lot of pushback from their fans who are disappointed at what they perceive to be their favorite developer selling out to current trends.

Speaking about that, Housemarque’s Director of Self-Publishing Mikael Haveri and Game Designer Henri Markus said to GamesIndustry that the game was originally pitched back in 2015, so it’s not just them jumping on board with the latest fad.

“We’re starting with the pure PvP part of it, and we can bring on the Housemarque expertise [in PvE] later on. We wouldn’t be too put off if we happened to have boss-fights, or more team-oriented missions eventually, but we’re going to focus on having a good PvP experience first.”

They also talked about the criticism their new game has received, noting that they recognize that not everyone will be on board with what they are doing, but that they hope that when people play it, they will appreciate and enjoy it for what it is.

“It is [a good place to start], but but it’s also where you get the most shit thrown on you, because there’s a lot of expectations… You should see our YouTube comments,” Haveri said. “We have to take it with a pinch of salt, and now we’re hoping we can win some of them over. We know that not everyone is going to be interested, but when they get their hands on Stormdivers I hope they can be straightforward and tell us if there is something here.”

I am personally always down for more battle royale, and given the quality and polish we can expect from a Housemarque game, I have great hopes that Stormdivers will turn out well, too. It’s due out on PC next year.