The first game developed by Improbable, the creator of the multiplayer cloud-based platform SpatialOS, will be an online RPG but "not an MMO", and is being made by a team that includes former BioWare, Capcom and Ubisoft employees.
Improbable opened two studios earlier this year and its first game is being made by its Edmonton, Canada studio, which is led by former BioWare general manager Aaryn Flynn. Little is known about the project, but in an interview with GameInformer this week, Flynn said the setting of the game has now been decided.
“We’ve got a lot of great folks with diverse backgrounds, not just some BioWare folks, although we have those. Folks from Ubisoft, folks from Capcom, that have come over and are helping us build what’s going to be an RPG using SpatialOS and Unreal," he said. The game is being directed and executive produced by former BioWare art director Neil Thompson.
It will be an online RPG, but Improbable CEO Herman Narula told the publication it isn't an MMORPG. There will be a focus on player agency, rather than just having a "prescribed" world, he added, citing Neverwinter Nights' player-created content as an inspiration.
"SpatialOS [is]...not an MMO solution. We’re a solution that increases the vocabulary of multiplayer. What I do feel comfortable saying is that I’ve told Aaryn from the beginning, ‘Think about how we can make players have a greater say in what we create together,'" he said.
“I grew up in love with some of the games that Aaryn and the team worked on. One of the things we were most passionate about was that Neverwinter Nights was so player-created and player-generated. RPGs and storytelling have been such a massive part of the industry, but if we’re going to find a way for RPGs and multiplayer to work, we have to deal with the paradox of how do we make players feel like they have agency in a world which is in some ways prescribed.”
