At gamescom 2022, a trailer for Everywhere was shown, a new ambitious MMO from former Grand Theft Auto man Leslie Benzies. The game has been in development for 5 years and is said to be extremely ambitious and bold. It was said beforehand that Everywhere should be a kind of “Real Life Ready Player One”. But MeinMMO author Schuhmann says: With the trailer and the information, really no one can make anything out of it.
What did we know about the game beforehand?
- It was known that a very important developer of GTA Online raised $42 million and is developing an “open-world” game called Everywhere. To this end, he founded the company “Build a Rocket Boy Games”, apparently a reference to a song by the band “Elbow”.
- This new company has hired some important employees from GTA 5 and currently employs a total of 130 people.
- The game was supposed to be a “massive open-world game” that offers players maximum freedom, features many modes and styles. The developers said they wanted to tell “not just their story”, but players should be able to live out their identity in Everywhere.
In May 2022, it was then said that the game should be a “Real Life” Ready Player One with multiplayer. Players should be able to develop their own worlds in a virtual sandbox. There would be “deep social integration.”
Everywhere opens gamescom 2022 with trailer
What does the trailer show us now? Everywhere had the honor of opening gamescom 2022. The game was in the first trailer spot. Those who know Geoff Keighley’s shows know: Such spots are coveted, you get very little time and have to make optimal use of this short time in the spotlight to present your game to a million-strong audience.
While some players were rushed through in 30 seconds, the games at the beginning and end of the show deserved a special treatment and got extra time.
But in the trailer for Everywhere, a multitude of developers talked relatively flowery about making an incredibly ambitious game that gives players maximum freedom. They have been working on the game for 5 years but need a little longer. It is something very unique and very bold.
Not a single word was mentioned about what genre it even has, what models it is based on, or what players it aims to reach. Hard facts: A release date, which platforms they want to come to, how they will further develop or monetize the game – there was no space for that in the developers’ talk…
It should just be “Everywhere”, simply somehow everything.
However, I would like to note that “Everywhere” sounds like the name of a product with which the Joker wants to take over Gotham or like something that James Bond must prevent at the last minute.
The bonus time to clarify such a complex game like Everywhere to the gamescom audience was therefore not used at all by the developers.
After 100 seconds, viewers then saw confusingly chopped landscape images, with characters just being there or driving something, but not following any recognizable action. The graphics looked like a comic game like Fortnite.
In the last 15 seconds of the trailer, viewers then saw even faster chopped images with an apparently different graphic style and then the trailer was over.
Here is at least the gameplay part of the trailer to be seen, without the prior speeches:
Players immediately suspect: Surely there are NFTs in there! Better watch out
What was the first reaction? The trailer and the job postings on the site immediately set off all alarm bells for gamers. Because the combination:
- ambitious talk
- absent gameplay
players today associate with “NFT”/”Blockchain” models and which have a bad reputation.
Therefore, the suspicion quickly arose that the new game “Everywhere” would rely on blockchain/NFT.
The developers neither wanted to confirm nor deny it, but said they did not want to exclude new technologies from the outset (via ign).
The game will be “developed on Unreal Engine 5, not on the blockchain.”
“We are making a good game, we promise”
How is the trailer received? Not particularly well (via youtube).
The only thing that speaks for the game in the comments seems to be the reputation of Leslie Benzies, who has received some advance praise.
But the graphics in many parts of the trailer, which remind many of Apex or Fortnite, are criticized – the fact that there is another style in the last seconds rather creates confusion,
And the lack of information in the trailer appears almost ridiculous to some:
- One user says: “We are making a good game, we promise.”
- Another user says: “Looks great. But what genre is it anyway? Sandbox?”
- A third says: “Another gaming company that puts nothing on the table. As long as you don’t send us any gameplay, at least tell us the approximate direction of how the game is supposed to look in the end. All these statements are nothing but lies.”
If this is supposed to be the future of MMOs or even really “Ready Player One”, then it is certainly not recognizable yet.
More about gamescom 2022:
I say: gamescom 2022 already has a big winner – And one game is as good as dead
