Tijdens gamescom dit jaar konden we in gesprek gaan met Ian Proulx, de creative director van Splitgate 2. Met Ian spraken we over de aankomende game, het effect van Splitgate 1 en meer. Zo bespraken we onder andere wat ze hebben geleerd van de release en de problemen van de eerste Splitgate.
PZ: Thank you for yout time. Could you give us a quick introduction about yourself and 1047 Games
For sure, I’m Ian and I’m the creative director at 1047 Games. The studio started in a small Stanford dormroom. From here we developed Splitgate 1 with a small team and budget. Now we are hard at work on Splitgate 2 for which we introduced factions. While the game will be different it will still be all about guns and portals.
PZ: In September 2022 it was announced the original Splitgate wouldn’t be updated anymore in favor on the sequel. But since when did you actually start development on the sequel? And how many persons are currently working on it?
We actually started working on the game two months before the announcement. So by now we are almost two years into development. When we started development on Splitgate 2 and during the announcement only 20 persons were working on it. We have grown substantially as we are now with 175 persons and that number is still growing.
PZ: When Splitgate 1 launched the popularity resulted in problems if you look back at this would you have handled it differently and how will you try to prevent it for the launch of Splitgate 2?
With Splitgate 1 we didn’t really have a plan, but I probably would only change some details. As at the time we only had one engineer for the backend and server and three other developers. So we couldn’t have changed much, but we probably would have waited a bit for more content to be ready and get an extra server from the start.
For Splitgate 2 we are using alpha’s to learn, and the launch schedule will contain a support plan. So we are ready to scale up more quickly and make sure we have enough content ready.
PZ: Where did the inspiration of Splitgate 2 come from? Is it the same base as the first game?
We wanted a fast-paced game and took inspiration from multiple games, sports and wanted to make it a positive experience. The sliding aspect is something we were inspired by through Titanfall, APEX Legends and Fortnite, while the artstyle is a bit of a blend. So is the typography and visuals inspired by sports and Formula 1. Just like sports connects and unifies, we want to do the same with Splitgate 2. A happy universe for everyone to enjoy.
PZ: Splitgate 2 is made in Unreal 5 so the graphical side will be updated fundamentally, but how is the gameplay different from the first game.
Unreal 5 is mostly a system for quality of life. So the performance will be impacted as well. The gameplay experience should become much better because of it. Another thing about Unreal is that it helps us to develop more quickly. So it will be easier to update the game with new content. In essence it means: more content that is delivered faster and in an higher quality.
PZ: Free to play live service games are highly competitive, how will Splitgate 2 grab the attention of players, what will set it apart?
I don’t think the space is too crowded. Gamers are desperate for something new as you could see with Helldivers. The biggest issue is keeping the momentum and we fully prepare to be able too keep that.
PZ: Splitgate 2 is 4v4 but has three factions why was there chosen for just three factions, are there plans to expand these factions?
We don’t have any plans at this moment for more factions. During planning and early testing we tried multiple ways of using factions. From 0 factions to way more factions. However at this moment we want to focus on the current three.
PZ: You wanted to bring the original Splitgate to Switch, are there conversations going for the 2nd game on the Switch or the successor?
Yes we did want it originally, however when we shifted to Splitgate 2 we didn’t pursue a Switch version. Splitgate 2 is a game we want on every platform. Xbox, Playstation, Steam, Epic Games etcetera. So, also on Nintendo. We also offer full crossplay between all platforms. While you can opt out for it, however we noticed with the first game that 45% of the pro players used a controller.
PZ: As the game is free to play how will the game make money. Will there be a Battle Pass, cosmetics, expansions?
We only want consumers to be able to pay for cosmetics, but we don’t have the specifics yet. We don’t want to become pay to win and want everyone to have the same experience.
