With the impending release of the third entry in the Styx franchise of goblin stealth games, series creator and game director of Styx: Blades of Greed, Julien Desourteaux, was kind enough to answer our questions about franchise and genre evolution, and other things.
The Styx franchise has always balanced a serious story with lighter, comedic beats. How are you approaching that tonal mix in Styx: Blades of Greed?
As in the previous games, Styx remains a sarcastic and irreverent goblin who finds himself caught up in dark, mature intrigues that are often beyond him.
However, our goblin evolves: he becomes less disrespectful toward the player and even learns to work as part of a team initially out of self-interest but gradually growing attached over the course of the adventure to this sense of comfort and recognition he has always been denied.
"Styx remains a sarcastic and irreverent goblin who finds himself caught up in dark, mature intrigues that are often beyond him."
The series’ stealth has consistently been its biggest strength. What new tools, abilities, or systemic additions does Styx: Blades of Greed introduce to deepen stealth and player expression?
Styx is even more agile than before, and the addition of new traversal tools has allowed us to create larger levels, highlighting strong verticality while offering more opportunities to escape. This keeps stealth gameplay more dynamic than ever.
The new powers also bring greater freedom and more options for resolving situations. Our philosophy has always been that every situation is a puzzle with multiple solutions.
How much does Styx: Blades of Greed expand the world and lore established in Of Orcs and Men, and should players expect any meaningful connections beyond setting and factions?
With Styx: Blades of Greed, our goal was to reconnect the threads of the lore established in previous entries and to show the early beginnings of the Great War between the Empire and the Orcs, which later serves as the foundation for the story told in Of Orcs and Men.
"Our goal was to reconnect the threads of the lore established in previous entries and to show the early beginnings of the Great War between the Empire and the Orcs"
You’ve described the game as featuring three “massive” playgrounds. How does that reshape the game’s structure compared to previous entries, mission flow, progression, and how players navigate objectives?
The structure is completely different from previous games. It allows us to create much larger environments that gradually unlock as the adventure progresses and as Styx gains new traversal tools.
Styx’s main objective is to steal all the Quartz, guided by a compass indicating the direction to search in.
Often, several Quartz objectives are accessible at the same time, allowing players to choose the order in which they collect them, shaping their experience based on the paths they take and how they resolve the situations they encounter.
Additionally, this new structure lets us place more collectibles such as thief emblems, gold pouches, relics, runes, or crafting schematics which reward exploration of these vast environments with experience points or specific gameplay abilities.
Can players expect to meet any returning characters, major or minor, or is the focus entirely on new faces?
Yes, Helledryn and Djarak will be part of the adventure. But we also wanted Styx to meet new characters who will form his crew, as well as other characters representing different factions, such as the Flux, the Inquisition, and the Resistance opposing the Empire.
"Styx’s main objective is to steal all the Quartz, guided by a compass indicating the direction to search in."
How does the story pick up after the ending of Styx: Shards of Darkness, particularly regarding the fallout involving Djarak?
At the end of Styx: Shards of Darkness, Styx and Djarak more or less allied to destroy Korrangar. Styx: Blades of Greed begins exactly where Styx: Shards of Darkness ended, with Styx confronting Djarak after his escape from Korrangar. However, their dispute is quickly interrupted by an event that goes far beyond their personal conflict.
You’ve emphasized “freedom and creativity” as core design principles. In practical gameplay terms, what does that mean, more emergent solutions, broader level routes, expanded gadget/ability synergies, or something else?
Yes, many powers and features can be combined, allowing players to express their creativity in assassinations, stealth approaches, or even navigation.
What role does the Black Hand play in the narrative of Styx: Blades of Greed? Are they primarily an antagonistic force, a political pressure point, or something more nuanced?
At the beginning of Styx: Blades of Greed, the Black Hand does not truly exist yet. Styx and his crew discover a small group of resistance fighters opposing the Empire, representing the early beginnings of the Black Hand. This adventure shows the creation of what this organization will later become, shaped by the actions of Styx and his crew.
From a developer standpoint, what’s your impression of the PS5 Pro so far? In real terms, how does the GPU boost impact your development versus targeting the base PS5?
Our main target was the PS5, so we did not particularly adapt our game for the PS5 Pro. However, its extra power ensures smooth performance in every situation, which is a great bonus for our players.
"Styx and his crew discover a small group of resistance fighters opposing the Empire, representing the early beginnings of the Black Hand."
What are your thoughts on PSSR, and what specific opportunities does it open up for Styx: Blades of Greed (image quality, performance headroom, ray tracing, stability, etc.)?
In our case, the native Unreal Engine 5 upscaler was already performing well, so we did not invest much effort in PSSR for Styx: Blades of Greed. But this is something we are definitely exploring for our other games.
What performance targets are you aiming for across platforms: PS5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PS5 Pro (resolution modes and frame rates, and whether those targets are dynamic or fixed)?
We are currently finalizing the last adjustments for the console versions and will share the technical specifications at a later date.
Is there a specific reason why the game is not coming to Nintendo Switch 2?
Given our use of Unreal Engine 5 technologies like Lumen and Nanite, as well as the scale and interactive depth of our environments and our production timeline, we ultimately decided not to target the Nintendo Switch 2 platform.
