Jagex, the studio behind the MMORPG classic RuneScape, will release a new action RPG in 2021. The game developers are Flying Wild Hog, known for the Shadow Warrior series. In an interview with the studios, MeinMMO editor Leya Jankowski found out that behind the action RPG there is likely an MMO shooter.
What do we know about the new game? Much is still unknown about the new title, and there is no name yet. In the official press release, it says that
- it will be a multiplayer action RPG with lots of explosions
- the setting will take place in a science fiction universe
- it is supposed to be a “Living Game”, which we generally refer to on MeinMMO as “Games-as-a-service” or MMO
- the game runs on Unreal Engine 4
- the release is scheduled for 2021, with open and closed beta phases ahead
Who is behind the new game? The developers are Flying Wild Hog, who employ around 250 people. The Polish studio is known for the Shadow Warrior series, a first-person shooter franchise with role-playing elements. The GameStar rated Shadow Warrior 2 with 90.
The game will be published by Jagex Partners. The developers behind the cult MMORPG RuneScape, which is now considered a 1 billion dollar franchise. That’s about 844 million euros. The 19-year-old MMORPG is played today by 280 million players and continues to grow. The game recently added a new skill. RuneScape is known for its somewhat quirky but friendly community.
With Jagex Partners, the company wants to expand its portfolio. They focus on service games that can be played for many years. Flying Wild Hog is now the first partner with whom Jagex Partners is releasing a game.
Fans of MMO shooters might love the new game
We at MeinMMO were able to conduct an interview with Jagex Partners and Flying Wild Hogs, in which we learned more about the game and the partnership between developer and publisher. However, it should be noted that they did not want to reveal too much about the new game yet. Nevertheless, I was able to tease out a few additional pieces of information.
The interview partners were:
- Jagex CEO: Phil Mansell
- Flying Wild Hogs CEO: Michal Szustak
- Jagex VP of Third Party & Partnerships: Jeff Pabst
- Flying Wild Hogs head of the Krakow studio: Michal Kuk
MeinMMO: I know that you don’t want to reveal too much about the new game right now. Can you still give me a bit more background?
Michal Kuk: Multi-platform, multiplayer, sci-fi. The game is supposed to be a connection between the best RPG games and what we do best at Flying Wild Hogs: it will be full of fast action and lots of experiments.
MeinMMO: Will it be a multiplayer game for a large number of players? Shadow Warrior 2, for example, is a 4-player co-op experience.
Michal Kuk: It will definitely be multiplayer, but we don’t want to go too deep into that just yet. I saw on your Twitter that you’re a fan of MMO shooters. That’s why I’m sure you’ll love it. It will be a colorful mix of multiplayer, fast gunplay, and full of RPG systems.
Michal Szustak: The game will definitely have a larger community approach. It will not just be a 4-player multiplayer. You can expect that from a new game from Jagex, based on the experiences with RuneScape, our goal is to create a large community that continues to grow. That is definitely our vision for the new game.
The new game will be designed for a large, active community
MeinMMO: You use the term “Living Game”. That’s something Jagex also aims for with Jagex Partners. You want to release many of these games. I think of it as something I would normally call a “Service Game”. But what is actually your definition of a “Living Game”?
Phil Mansel: We primarily think about the quality that arises from the customer. A game where someone feels that they can invest a lot of time and essentially play forever. These games have an incredibly long lifespan. They are games in which players are heavily involved and have a say, not just by playing the game. They also have a voice in shaping the game.
These games should always feel fresh and exciting, whether it’s the first year or the tenth year in development. So we want to release games that players want to return to and discover something new. They should build real friendships in these games and feel like they are part of something bigger. This also relates to your earlier question about how big the community will be.
What I ultimately think a “Living Game” is: It’s more than just a hobby; the game will be part of your life and lifestyle. […]
MeinMMO: For these games, it’s immensely important that they continue to evolve. They need a living world filled with new things, such as new lore or new gameplay. That way, people have a reason to come back again and again. Does that apply to the game you are now releasing together with Flying Wild Hog? Can we expect larger DLCs or similar things?
Jeff Pabst: The titles we look at are only those that we feel can become “Living Games”. The “Evergreen” design that we want at the core is that these games focus on delivering new content – no matter in what form. That, of course, also depends on the titles themselves. In an MMO, that can mean new raids or new areas. For another game, that could be DLCs or new events. The important thing is the community and that we talk to the players so that they become part […] of the development.
We want to make service-based games, meaning free to play and inviting as many players as possible to be part of the greater whole.
The new action MMO will be Free2Play
MeinMMO: Did I just understand correctly that you want to focus on free-to-play models and that the new title will also be free?
Jeff Pabst: From Jagex Partners’ perspective, we don’t have a specific business model that we focus on. But the main thing about “Living Games” is that you need an economic model that works in the long term so that the game can last for many years. […]
At Jagex, we had some successes with subscription models. However, the free-to-play model is what we feel will be right for this [new] title.
Jagex assists with marketing, bringing 20 years of experience
MeinMMO: Jagex Partners will primarily help with things like marketing, community building, or audience analysis. Basically, everything you need to launch and market a new game. I was wondering if you also work together on the vision of the game?
Michal Szustak: I would say that the part of creating “Living Games”, meaning building a community or the payment model, is already an important part of the design. You cannot simply develop a game and ignore these things. Jagex has been involved over the past year and a half in shaping this game with us. They were already there at an early point. They didn’t help us right from the start, but they have been with us for a long time now. They helped us to keep these things in mind and thus create a “Living Game”.
Phil Mansel: The vision of the game comes from Flying Wild Hogs. The IP is Flying Wild Hogs. We wanted to be involved here because we think the game is great. We help them reach players and their vision that we love.
MeinMMO: You have been building Jagex Partners for years. I don’t know exactly, but you may have looked at hundreds or thousands of games. What are the criteria for you regarding how a game qualifies for Jagex Partners?
Jeff Pabst: The focus here is the partnership. […]. Yes, we have looked at a lot of different games. But we start from a certain aspect of the market. We take on games that have the potential to become live games and where we feel we can contribute something.
With Flying Wild Hogs, it made absolute sense for us to release the first game with them. They have a very clear vision and know exactly what they want to do. They are very creative and have a strong focus on the partnership. They want to create a game that fits perfectly into our idea and we can not only contribute the “publishing things” you mentioned earlier. We can bring 20 years of experience in how to build and engage a community.
The new action MMO has been in development for years
MeinMMO: Just to clarify: you at Flying Wild Hog had a finished version that you presented. In other words, an “action-sci-fi-rpg-shooter-mmo” and Jagex Partners thought that it was something they would like in their portfolio?
Michal Kuk: Yes, it looked exactly like that in principle. We already had a clear vision before. The studio in Krakow was founded to create something new and fresh. We are experts in capturing players for hours. But we started to think about how we could create games that captivate for months and years.
We had an idea, and we presented it to Jagex and other partners we were thinking about at the time. To be honest, Jagex is the only partner that brings 20 years of experience in how to keep a game alive for years and build the community for it. They were simply the best choice to entrust them with the project we are currently working on. They could expand our vision.
But we didn’t just present a piece of paper; we presented first parts of the game. We had already built a significant part of the game.
Michal Szustak: Yes, we already had the idea that the game should eventually become a “Living Game”. That was an important signal for Jagex that we had already built something from which we could create a long-term game. We had already worked on the game for almost a year and a half […].
MeinMMO: This question goes to both Jagex as the publisher and Flying Wild Hogs as the developer. In recent years, we have seen more and more games that move in the direction you have envisioned for your game. We have a Call of Duty: Warzone, we have Destiny 2, we have The Division 2, we have a number of multiplayer shooters and some multiplayer RPGs that are increasingly following the service path. What does your game need in this market to be successful?
Michal Kuk: It cannot just be another Destiny; it cannot just be a copy of the games you mentioned. It must be something different, something completely different. We don’t even see Call of Duty as our competition. Our vision is a completely different game, for sure not what you would expect.
MeinMMO: Are you already talking about platforms? Can we expect the game for next-gen consoles? Will it come to PC?
Michal Kuk: We are considering all possible platforms that we can reach. It’s still too early to talk about which platforms we will release the game on. But our goal is to reach as many players as possible.
MeinMMO: When can we expect to see something from the game? Maybe a first trailer?
Jeff Pabst: Very soon.
MeinMMO: Thank you for the conversation.
The new action MMO should be on your radar
Jagex has gathered nearly 20 years of experience in the service games sector through the development and marketing of RuneScape. RuneScape is still a worldwide success and its player base continues to grow. They have been able to generate substantial capital from the franchise, which can only be a significant advantage in marketing.
Flying Wild Hog has already proven with Shadow Warrior 2 (2016) that they are capable of creating a high-quality first-person shooter. The round gameplay mechanics, variety of weapons, balance, and the story have received praise from critics.
This combination could ensure that we are getting a durable action MMO, where shooter and RPG elements play important roles. That is at least my hope as a fan of action-packed MMO shooters.
Leya Jankowski
Brand Manager of MeinMMO | Part of the editorial team
