Senior Executive Producer at Stadia Games Reid Schneider on Savage Planet, Small Teams, and the Future of the Cloud



[ad_1]

Next week, an improved version of Journey to the Savage Planet will arrive exclusively on Stadia. First released on PS4, Xbox One, and the Epic Game Store in January 2020, Journey to the Savage Planet is a unique first-person Metroidvania that revel in lush, vibrant locations and quirky, irreverent humor. Savage Planet was one of TheGamer’s top-rated games of 2020, as it features a tightly focused campaign filled with fascinating enemies, clever puzzles, and some of the best first-person platforms this side of Mirror’s. Edge. The expansion, Hot Garbage DLC, added a ton of variety to the game with an interesting new planet to explore, new enemies to defeat, and most importantly, a friggin ‘jetpack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wuNnnzJyT4

If you missed out on this diamond in the rough last year, you’ll have a chance to play the game in a new all-in-one package on Stadia next week. Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition includes both the base game and the Hot Garbage DLC, plus all new posts from Kindred Aerospace CEO Martin Tweed and all new ads for fake products like the infamous Meat Buddy. Stadia Pro subscribers will be able to play the Special Edition for free on February 1.

Related: Journey To The Savage Planet: Employee Of The Month Edition Launches On Stadia Next Week, Free For Pro Members

In December 2019, Savage Planet developer Typhoon Studios was purchased by Google and integrated into Stadia’s first in-house studio, Stadia Games and Entertainment. Ahead of the release of Journey to the Savage Planet on Stadia, we spoke with Reid Schneider, Co-Founder of Typhoon Studios and Senior Executive Producer at Stadia of Savage Planet, about his love for Star Wars and Ghostbusters, and his take on it. future of cloud gaming. .

TheGamer: Do you consider Journey to the Savage Planet to be a Metroid Prime?

Reid Schneider: Metroid Prime has definitely been an inspiration to the team. This is especially true considering how long we are all waiting for the release of a new one! That being said, we felt there was a great opportunity to add our own touch to it by focusing on humor, tone, charm and cooperation.

Did any of the player reactions to the game surprise or stuck you?

RS: Overall we were very happy with the feedback from the players and the weird / crazy things they did with the game. Humor seems to really resonate with the players, and we really appreciate their support.

The team also really enjoyed watching the sprint races and seeing the players use the systems aspect of the game to create their own jokes. I remember when it was launched there was a video of a couple of friends playing together. A person created their own grapple path to reach their buddy on a high ledge. You could see he was working really hard on it. When he finally made it to the top, he was greeted with a backslash from his partner (whom we’ve internally dubbed the “Italian Grandmother” after our Animation Director, Mike Mennillo). The slap was so perfectly timed that she sent it right over the ledge, plunging to her death and ultimate reprint. This type of physical comedy is golden!

Are there any specific lessons you learned from the development of Savage Planet?

RS: I think this reinforced our fundamental belief that a small team of REALLY TALENTED people can create great work. The Savage Planet team was only about 28 developers and a few amazing entrepreneurs. Today, in AAA games, they have become those giant productions and what our Creative Director calls the “Vegas Buffet” of games. This means that they are designed to satisfy everyone. Our goal was to create something focused, unique, designed AND a game that players can complete without taking over their lives.

Considering your work on games like Arkham Knight and Mad Max, what do you think of the impending “licensed gaming renaissance” with games like IO Interactives 007 and MachineGames Indiana Jones on the way?

RS: Working on licensed games can be an amazing experience or it can be downright difficult. In reality, it boils down to two parts. 1) Does the licensor understand game medium in that it is 100% different from a traditional consumer movie or product? 2) Is the development team really passionate about IP and do they have any experience in the genre? If both of the above factors are a resounding “YES”, you can expect amazing results. I am personally very happy to see what MachineGames is doing with Indiana Jones. Their work on Wolfenstein is truly inspiring! They clearly hate the Nazis. 😉

Related: Stadia State Share Could Be Huge For Speedrunners & Content Creators (If Developers Bother Using It)

Are there any games or licensed games that you would like to make?

RS: Absolutely! I’ve always been a huge fan of Star Wars and Ghostbusters. It would be great to do something in these universes at some point. On the Typhoon side, we always love the idea of ​​injecting humor and charm into the work we do. It feels like these franchises have opportunities for both.

Are there any plans for Journey to the Savage Planet 2?

RS: Obviously, not much can be said about anything like this, but I can say that the team are really passionate about the universe we have created, and we would really like to do more. We’re throwing some subtle (or not-so-subtle) hints in the upcoming Employee of the Month edition on Stadia, so hopefully people will check that out and let us know what they think.

Can you tell me about your next project at Stadia?

Again, I can’t say too much, but what I can say is that the team really enjoys creating content that is “ systemic, that has strong flavors and charm. ” Ultimately, we want to continue to focus our work in this direction. What this inherently means is that some people will like what we do, and others won’t. For us, it’s fine. We often say that the opposite of love is not hate, but rather indifference. If we show the players something and they are indifferent to it, it means that we have failed as a team. We always want to swing out, which means we hope to win, but we could also get knocked out every now and then.

How well has Journey to the Savage Planet sold?

RS: The game sold very well and we know our partners at 505 were happy with the results. From our conversations with them, it exceeded their expectations in some cases. It’s also worth mentioning that the game will release on Steam on January 28 for PC gamers who are not yet ready to dive into the Epic Store ecosystem. Another thing we’ve seen is that Game Pass has been a huge booster for us in terms of users. The team is always happy to have more people playing!

Related: IO Interactive’s New 007 Game Could Learn A Lot From Nightfire’s Famous ‘The Exchange’ Mission

How did you do that horrible meat buddy?

RS: All credit goes to the amazing Davy Force who we’ve worked closely with on all commercials. He’s a creative genius, and the Meat Buddy is truly a nightmare. Plus, if you liked her work in the original game, the Stadia (Employee of the Month) version has even crazier ads. We’re excited to see what people think of them.

Why do you think a large portion of the public is still turning their nose to streaming technology when it is the dominant force in film and television? What does it take to change to change your mood?

RS: In my humble opinion, it’s only a matter of time before streaming becomes the dominant way to consume gaming content. If you think about the rise of OTT services like Netflix, Disney +, Spotify, the choice in the hands of consumers is incredible. As a parent, I also find that our house is already littered with children’s stuff, so we don’t have to buy more CDs, DVDs / etc. is a huge victory.

Obviously, traditional media like TV / Movies / Music are strictly ‘one-sided’ rather than the required ‘two-way’ action of the game. Change takes time, but once it is takes over, it can quickly become the dominant way of consuming content. No one can say for sure how long or when it will take effect, but I think it will. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that change can happen very quickly and condense what should take years to months.

TG: Are you the IRL Martin Tweed?

RS: Unfortunately no, but the guy who plays him is a tough guy. He is a local actor from Montreal named Adrian Burhop. Every time we recorded his tracks he also totally “tried” and left nothing on the court. During the filming we learned that he wasn’t a big fan of animals, so it only made us want to put more into his scenes to pump the ridiculous! If you like Martin Tweed, you should definitely check out the Employee of the Month edition on Stadia, as he has a lot more screen time!

The Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month edition launches exclusively on Stadia on February 1. Stadia Pro subscribers can play the game for free. Check out our full review of Journey to the Savage Planet and the Hot Garbage DLC expansion.

Next: The Clear Winner Of The Next Generation Console War Is Mobile

Pokemon: The Ultimate Competitive Team in Sword & Shield


About the Author



[ad_2]

Source link