Kao the Kangaroo Kao Devs are Planning More Games
In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, members of Tate Multimedia shared their plans for resurrecting the series. Reboot of one of the games is supposed to be just the beginning of a new chapter for Kao.
During an interview about the power of nostalgia and rebooting Kao the Kangaroo the developers revealed their plans for the future. We learned that Tate Multimedia wants to continue the series, and the next installments of Kao the Kangaroo are already in the plans.
"We were also thinking about a remake of the third Kao game, as well as a more advanced game with a much older Kao and a bigger emphasis on combat. So after all those trial trials, we hope that there is a place to really reboot the series, this is where we keep calling it a reboot."
Refreshed Kao the Kangaroo, in addition to improved visuals, is to offer more fight sequences than previous parts, while maintaining platforming elements. What's more, there will be a more developed storyline and the possibility to buy DLCs.
The interview also touched on the difficulty level balance. The new release is meant to be fully accessible to the youngest players, while challenging those who reach for it out of nostalgia.
The first part of Kao the Kangaroo was released 22 years ago and remains one of the most iconic Polish IPs in the gaming world. Platformers starring the distinctive kangaroo go back to the days of gaming magazines, and the developers, when interviewed, make no secret of their plan to use the element of nostalgia to their advantage.
"We realised that there's still a fan base that is constantly posting something about the old games. Back in the day, around 2000, there was no social media and there were no community related activities. So as developers, we were not aware of the impact of the game back then. But in recent days, we've seen through all that available media that there's still interest (...)"
Tate Multimedia release a total of four Kao the Kangaroo games and then tackled other projects such as Steel Rats and Urban Trial Freestyle. However, fans expected the creators to return to their roots. Wojtek Bilinski, the main creator of the original games, mentions numerous accounts and videos created by fans to popularize the initiative to bring back the brand.
"The whole discussion about Kao started around three years ago, and those videos were from a couple of months before, and they had between 200,000 and 300,000 views."
After noticing interest in the gaming community in 2019, Tate released Kao the Kangaroo 2 on PC via Steam. This was meant to be a nice gesture for dedicated fans, but it also illustrated the scale of interest the brand still enjoys.
"We were really surprised by how many downloads there were and the positive reaction, so we started to think about a new game. I think enough time has passed for people to start looking back on those games with nostalgia, so the positive feelings associated with it contributed as well."
The refreshed Kao the Kangaroo, according to information posted on Steam, will appear this summer. Further parts are planned, but it's the reception and interest in the upcoming one that will determine the future of the brand.
