After its somewhat rocky start, the survival MMO Last Oasis has developed into a really strong game on Steam and is continuously being improved. MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus spoke with the Creative Director of the new game, Florian Hofreither.

Last Oasis has been available in Early Access on Steam since March 26, 2020. The new survival MMO competes with other titles in the genre by focusing on PvP and telling its own story.

Instead of happily battling in a desert, jungle, or deserted cities, you always wander with your massive wooden walkers from oasis to oasis, which appear anew or get destroyed on the map. Stagnation is fatal here.

For the earth has stopped turning, and the sun burns the ground where it shines for too long. This means you are always on the run – and in combat with other players. Resources, especially water, are a rare commodity.

After strong numbers at release, Last Oasis aims to become even bigger in the future. As part of “Find Your Next Game” I met with the head of the new survival game, Florian Hofreither.

He revealed to me that there are many plans for the near and distant future, and many of them are already quite concrete. Particularly, PvE will play a significant role. And this is despite the fact that Last Oasis previously boasted about making PvP even better than New World.

Florian explained to me what the goals and ideas are that the team is currently working on. MeinMMO also received some exclusive screenshots from the upcoming update with new content from Donkey Crew (the studio). We don’t know when this will come, but you can find the images here in the article and in the title image.

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Players are supposed to live like nomads

After brief technical issues that our brand manager Leya Jankowski quickly resolved for us, our interview starts with a question from Florian himself. He asks me: “The interview is in German, right?”

Interesting point, as all my questions are in English. The studio is located in Poland, but Florian himself is from Austria. A fact I completely forgot, which is why I have to translate all my questions into German as I ask them.

This leads to a very relaxed and informal atmosphere right at the beginning. Therefore, the interview proceeds with quite a bit of laughter and good spirits.

MeinMMO: In your own words: What is Last Oasis and what makes it so special?

Florian Hofreither: “Last Oasis is a survival game that primarily focuses on the nomadic element. This is something that was really interesting for us and we think it can solve some problems of the survival genre, such as the fact that the world becomes very static very quickly in normal survival games.

We are still working on improving the whole experience. By motivating players to always stay in motion, they can experience different things and thus build a different relationship with the world.”

MeinMMO: So dynamic vs. static, more or less?

Florian Hofreither: “Yes, exactly.”

Strong start with problems

MeinMMO: When the game launched, you had 33,000 players at peak and still average 7,000 now. What do you think of this success?

Florian Hofreither: “I would say our release was definitely rocky, there’s no denying that, but we are generally very satisfied. We knew we wouldn’t keep all players from the start. We have a niche game that is not for everyone, and that’s okay. We are happy with the numbers, but we also know that we have a lot to do to convince people that we are not just a flash in the pan, but that we are here to stay.”

MeinMMO: You just talked about the start. You had technical problems immediately after launch and had to go offline again for a week. How do you plan to avoid this in the future?

Florian Hofreither: “With the launch issues, we knew that problems could arise, but we thought we were well-prepared. It was only with the influx of players at launch that problems emerged that we simply couldn’t find beforehand. We are still working to resolve these fundamental issues and therefore believe that such problems should not happen again.”

He adds with determination: “If it were just a small bug, we could have easily fixed it. But this was really a deep-seated problem that needed to be fixed from the ground up. Now that we know where it lies, we are confident that something like this won’t happen again.”

The future of Last Oasis – Growth and new ideas

After clarifying how Last Oasis has been so far, I am now burning to know how it will proceed. The potential of the game is huge, the idea unique, and the determination of the developers, especially from Florian, enviable.

MeinMMO: How many people are actually working on Last Oasis and do you plan to expand?

Florian Hofreither: “We are about 40-45 people and we definitely plan to expand. We are always looking for creative minds, smart people, and motivated individuals. We are always on the lookout. But now with the pandemic, of course, it’s more difficult and a big change for us. This makes everything a bit harder, but we want to win over anyone interested to join us.”

MeinMMO: And do you already have ideas about which direction it should go, with the people you bring in and with the game itself?

Florian Hofreither: “Regarding development: We don’t yet know if we will remain in home office forever or if we will return to the studio after the pandemic. Currently, we use the studio for meetings that are better held in person, but we mainly limit ourselves to calls.

In terms of the game itself: We have big plans for further themes. After the launch, we focused on fixing bugs, balancing issues, and gameplay problems. We are now generally finished with that, the game runs stable. We are satisfied with that and we are focusing on new content now. New content that goes in different directions.”

This is what the new content looks like

MeinMMO: Regarding this content: Can you already say how it will come? DLCs, free updates, add-ons, or even Last Oasis 2?

This question seems to have been expected by Florian – or he simply shows that he lives and breathes Last Oasis, as he appears determined when outlining his plans:
“For now, we are only focusing on free updates. We want to bring the game to a point where we can say: ‘This is what it should be as version 1.0.’ We have looked at the feedback and tried to gain the impression from the users. That’s why we’ve decided to release a theme-based roadmap, which we will soon present to the public. We already know that internally, we just have to work out a few details regarding the timing.

Basically, we want to concentrate updates on themes. This means: Every few months a new theme will come. The first theme coming is a volcanic one. It will come with a map revolving around heat, lava, and resources. This will also bring new weapons, new ammunition… a whole package of new content that we will provide to the players. We hope that this shows the direction we want to go.

But we also have many other ideas that go beyond regular content: we want to expand the game, introduce new gameplay elements. One element that is very interesting are the event maps. The map constantly moves on, bringing individual oases forward or taking them away again. And what we want to focus on more are these event maps. These are maps that are only available for an hour where you get a kind of scenario. All players come in at the same time, then they have an hour to solve the scenario and come back with loot.

Of course, PvP plays a significant role, but here we want to focus more on PvE. We want to introduce new monsters, new interactions with these monsters, and a lot of our lore. We have a broad background story for our world, and we want to convey that to the players. We want the players to explore this world and find out what this world actually is.”

“Early Access is the best thing that has happened in the last 10 years”

Last Oasis has a unique approach, but the idea of survival games goes back much further. The first survival game was released back in 1984. And Donkey Crew has gained some experience in developing multiplayer PvP games. So now I’m curious: Where do the ideas for Last Oasis come from?

MeinMMO: These theme-based updates sound somewhat similar to what Conan Exiles and ARK have already done. They worked well there. Are those models for you?

Florian Hofreither: “Of course, we look at other survival games, but we believe we need a different approach. We don’t just take a game and say: ‘That’s how we do it.’ That’s the basic idea of Early Access, and I personally am a big fan of it. Early Access is the best thing that has happened in the last 10 years for the gaming scene, both for developers and players.

The idea of Early Access is to have a good, solid base game and to expand it in a meaningful way. I believe that not only survival games but all good and successful games adhere to this basic principle.”

MeinMMO: Many of you come from the multiplayer mod for Mount & Blade. Was Last Oasis your first thought after this mod, what other ones were there before, and how differently could Last Oasis have looked?

Florian Hofreither: “Last Oasis is definitely heavily inspired by that mod. Not in terms of theme, I wanted something away from the medieval theme and wanted something that gives me more freedom as a game designer. But gameplay-wise, many of our experiences from that mod have flowed into Last Oasis.

The most obvious element is of course the melee combat system. We wanted to see: What happens in a survival game where you have very few options for ranged combat, where every interaction is really up close. And we are satisfied with how it has worked.

But there are also other elements. Another, somewhat lesser-known element from our multiplayer mod was a browser game called Strategis. There, everyone had their castle and army, then you combined these armies and fought it all out in Mount & Blade itself. We learned a lot about MMOs and PvP MMOs, how players interact with each other, how they build larger clans, and how to counter that.”

The release of Last Oasis – When will it be ready, how will it look then?

Now that I have a fairly accurate idea of what Last Oasis will receive, I’m curious when the release version 1.0 will launch – and what will change by then.

MeinMMO: You say you want to build Last Oasis in Early Access. Do you already have an idea of how it should look at the release? For example, how big the game should be when it’s finished?

Florian Hofreither: “We have concrete thoughts on that, but we let ourselves be influenced by the players. It’s important to listen to the player base. I always have to be careful not to get tunnel vision. You have a good idea – or you believe you have a good idea – you develop it and then realize it’s not that great after all. Early Access gives you the advantage to realign yourself again.

Yes, I have a plan in my head of how the game will look as version 1.0, but I also know: When the time comes, it will be quite different from what I imagine now. Simply because we are trying to respond to the problems and wishes of the players. That’s why we have a very player-driven development.”

MeinMMO: And in terms of timing? Can you give a rough estimate?

Florian Hofreither: “Basically around two years. But in times like these, it’s very hard to predict anything concretely.”

PvP – Blessing or curse of Last Oasis?

Now that it’s clear that PvE is definitely the direction Last Oasis is developing, it’s exciting to see whether the PvP approach still remains the heart of the game. Florian is confident that the decision was the right one and stands by it, even if Last Oasis becomes a niche game.

MeinMMO: PvP has been criticized, although much less than I originally thought. What are your thoughts on that now, a few months after release?

Florian seems determined and confident in his reply:

“My motto is: You should do what you are good at. If we had focused on a PvE game, it wouldn’t have worked because I have little experience as a player in that area. PvP is what is close to my heart. I believe it’s more important to focus on what you’re good at rather than chasing trends. Even if that means landing in a niche.

Now, in hindsight, I would say: Yes, we should have focused more on PvE. But I wouldn’t call that a mistake. I made the decision with the knowledge I had at the time and am satisfied with it. But now we want to integrate more PvE elements. We’ve built such a broad story and such a cool world, and we have many ideas about what good PvE should be. That’s a direction we want to go stronger.”

MeinMMO: Is that also the reason why you’ve now introduced dedicated servers?

Florian Hofreither: “We wanted to introduce dedicated servers from the start. There were technical reasons why that was not possible. But they are interesting because they provide communities with a different form of interaction. You can be on a server where you get to know the people and have your friends and enemies, those who are newly joining…”

With a mischievous grin, he adds: “I sometimes play on the community servers myself because I’m curious how people interact there. Of course, I play under an alias so that no one knows who I am. But it’s interesting to see what communities get built there.”

MeinMMO: Did that have any influence on the official PvP servers?

Florian Hofreither: “Not really. Of course, it’s difficult to say that accurately. But in our assessment, those are different target groups. People who want to make an impression in this large world are different from those who prefer to play on a small server with their friends or a group of acquaintances. We don’t see these community servers taking anything away from the larger world.”

Last Oasis in 5 years – What comes after release?

Last Oasis is not only a survival MMO but will also become a service game. Florian and his Donkey Crew want to support the game for as long as possible. And they even have ideas on how to keep it exciting for that long.

MeinMMO: Are there plans for a solo mode?

Florian Hofreither: “That is something that is not much further than in the brainstorming phase. We are talking about it because it’s interesting, but if we do it, we want to do it differently than other survival games. Just providing an empty server and saying: ‘Here’s your solo mode’ doesn’t make much sense or fun. But we have considerations on how we can transfer the whole theme of movement and nomadic living into a solo variant. Some from the team would be interested in tackling that, but as I said, for now, it’s still in brainstorming.”

MeinMMO: Can you estimate how long Last Oasis will run? How long do you want to support it?

Florian Hofreither: “We hope to develop it for as long as there is interest. But it’s very hard to gauge that. It seems stable and with the new themes we will be releasing, we believe that we can excite many old and new players to return and take a look. We are not really worried. For us as a studio, Last Oasis has been an absolute success and we will continue to work on it until it is where it needs to be.”

MeinMMO: Can you spot a trend with players regarding which direction they want it to go or what they don’t like?

Florian Hofreither: “One major point of criticism is these huge groups of players that have a significant advantage due to their numbers. That’s one of the biggest unresolved problems of game design, how to create a large, open world and then get people not to gravitate toward the largest group. But we have concrete ideas on how we want to improve that.

Besides that, we often read that players enjoy Last Oasis, find the base solid, but that there isn’t enough to do. We accept that, and we have many ideas that we want to implement.”

Feeling like Last Oasis? Here are tips from the boss

Finally, I want to know from Florian what new players should pay attention to – after all, Last Oasis is very different from other survival games. And who could give better tips than the one whose mind the whole game originated from?

MeinMMO: If a new player wanted to start playing Last Oasis right now, what would be the most important point you would advise them?

Florian Hofreither: “The most important thing is the difference from other survival games and knowing how to stay safe. In other survival games, you are simply at the mercy of others. You are on the map, and even when you log out, you can still be attacked. In Last Oasis, you can take all your belongings and log out with everything.

The most important advice for new players is therefore: Only take into the map what you can afford to lose. You have to consider how much you want to risk and what you get in return.

The other thing is communication. It’s incredible what you can achieve with that. If you have a microphone and are active in voice chat, you’ll quickly make many friends. This is something that many games underestimate.”

MeinMMO: Thank you very much for the interview!