Arkane Founder and Co-creator of Dishonored Teases New, Retro Futuristic RPG
Founded by Raphael Colantonio, co-creator of Dishonored, Wolfeye studio is working on a first-person RPG set in a sci-fi reality.
We've got some new details about the upcoming project from Wolfeye Studios, a team established by former Arkane employees.
- Raphael Colantonio, CEO of Wolfeye and co-founder of Arkane, revealed on X that he is participating in the ongoing industry event, the Game Developers Conference, in San Francisco. The aim of the trip is to present the new project to potential publishers and investors.
- A picture accompanied the post. There is a monitor in the background and the players noticed that the new Wolfeye Studios game is described as a "retro RPG in a science fiction setting."
- Colantonio also posted a second photo, this time from the headquarters of the Wolfeye studio, where there was information on the board indicating that the game would offer a first-person view.
Photo source: X
The information about the use of FPP perspective should please many of us. All Arkane games followed this pattern, so when Weird West, the first game from Wolfeye Studios, chose a bird's eye view, it sparked some controversy, despite otherwise adhering to the immersive sim genre.
Two years ago, Colantonio organized a poll in which he asked whether Wolfeye Studios' next title should be a first-person perspective (FPP) production. 84.6% of players answered yes.
Let's remind that Weird West was released on March 31, 2022, on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. A version for Nintendo Switch is scheduled to be released this year, following the conversions for Xbox Series X/S and PS5 in 2023. The game is also available as part of the Game Pass subscription - both on PCs and Xbox consoles.
Weird West can currently be purchased for $9.99 on Steam. This is the price with a 75 percent discount for the spring sale. A similar promotion was organized on GOG.com.
Retro style - salvation for immersive sims
The mention of retro styling in the new Wolfeye project is intriguing. Immersive sims have nearly become extinct because the audience for this type of game is too small to justify the increasing development costs. That's why, after the failure of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Square Enix retired the franchise, and the sales of Prey were so disappointing that the team responsible for the game was directed to work on the co-operative shooter Redfall.
However, the last few years have seen a resurgence of this genre. This was made possible by focusing on retro aesthetics, which was inspired by the success of boomer shooters. This resulted in such successful titles as Blood West, Gloomwood, or System Shock Remake. Also waiting for release are, among others, Peripeteia, Athanasia, Skin Deep, Fallen Aces, or RetroSpace.
Immersive sims are among the most challenging games to develop, and they are also a relatively niche genre. That's why it's not particularly surprising that Raphael Colantonio will opt for a retro style in his next project.
Not only Raphael Colantonio
It's worth noting that the retro RPG from Wolfeye studio isn't the only upcoming project that Arkane veterans are working on. Some time ago, Viktor Antonov, the art director responsible for the unforgettable visual designs in Half-Life 2 and the Dishonored series, announced that he develops a first-person perspective (FPP) game with soulslike elements, which will be set in an apocalyptic version of the Wild West.
