STACK #139 May 2016

FEATURE GAMES

How important was it to implement a story mode in Battleborn ? Critical. We love team-games, but most of them focus solely on multiplayer. So, you end up with a game that has a roster of awesome heroes, and the only thing you can do with them is punch other players on the internet. That excludes big groups of other players who either don’t like that kind of play, or don’t like it all the time. “I want to do more with my cool heroes!” So from the very beginning, we were dedicated to having a way to play Battleborn , through a narrative experience which helps establish this new cool setting we made, and gives players a chance to test themselves in different ways other than with PvP. Is there the option to switch between first and third person to play, or is that only included for specific abilities? It’s only for a few specific abilities, picked on a character-by-character basis. Choosing first-person is a fundamental choice we made very early in Battleborn . We love the comfort of controls and the feeling of immersion this gives you – you really put yourself in the head of one of our badass heroes. When you make that choice, then, you really have to stick with it. Tracking opponents is done very differently in first-person and third-person, and a myriad of game systems are built around that core choice. Every once in a while, though, there’s a reason to pull the camera back for a specific ability. Rath’s “Dreadwind” (spinning attack) is a great example of where the ability is much more useful when you can see things right around you. Do you need to be connected to the net to play single player? Even local single player? Yes. Second only to the character play, Battleborn is a game about growth and accomplishment, whether you’re advancing characters, collecting gear, or completing achievements and challenges to earn titles. To maintain the integrity of that accomplishment, it’s important that we store and track that data online. This is especially important because the gear and credits you earn

the factions of battleborn

The Eldrid These "space hippies" are lovers of the

land, and will do anything to see the protection of Solos. The Rogues Think of them as the angsty teens of the galaxy. United Peacekeeping Republics Space Russians. The Jennerit Imperium The assassins of the galaxy, deadly as they are sleek. The Last Light Consortium Mostly cybernetic, slightly intelligent, wholly insane.

GAMES

• Battleborn is out May 3

in a story episode is carried over to online play. If we didn’t authenticate that through an online account, we open up the ability for players to edit their local profile, giving themselves any item or advantage they wanted, regardless of what the game required for you to earn that. My favourite example of this is the Battleborn title “Pentastrike!”. You have to kill five enemy players within eight seconds to earn that title. It’s very hard to do. If we made it easier for players to circumvent the challenge of earning that title, it loses its impact. That means it is a toothless reward. Ultimately, that begins to erode the integrity of the entire growth/reward loop of the game, which I believe is one of the most compelling things about Battleborn .

lot in early Battleborn development, as we started blending genres together. At the end of the day, I always want to make a game that as many players as possible can enjoy. I also like making ‘new’ things, and not just rehashing ten- year-old ideas. Making something new always stretches the “demographic” question. Ultimately, I think Battleborn is for core gamers, maybe a bit mass market. It’s for people who like action games. It’s for people who like strong, fun characters. Battleborn is for shooter fans, but also for people who like to smash things with axes and swords. At its heart, Battleborn is a character action game, with strong offerings playing through challenging story episodes or against other players in our competitive modes. It’s a big game, with a lot of appeal to multiple player types. I hate to throw out the “something for everyone” phrase, but we did work very hard to offer substantial content for a wide group of players.

Who is your demographic?

This is an interesting and yet uncomfortable question for me to answer! We asked this question a

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