148
We sat down with the senior narrative designer behind Quantum Break, Greg Louden, during a recent press event to talk about why the game was in development so long.
As one of the biggest games being published by Microsoft this year, Quantum Break understandably has quite a few hopeful players excited. From the time-altering abilities of the game’s protagonist, Jack Joyce, to the live-action television show that accompanies the actual gameplay, there’s a lot of innovation packed into Remedy’s newest game. Of course, fans have been waiting a long time to get their hands on the title, as it’s been in development for roughly four and a half years.
A lot has changed since the game was first unveiled, but it appears to exceed even the high standards of past Remedy-developed experiences – something we can confirm following our hands-on time with Quantum Break . Despite this, we were curious to find out the reasoning behind the lengthy development time. Fortunately, we were given the opportunity to have this addressed during a recent Xbox event in San Fransisco.
We sat down to chat with Remedy’s senior narrative designer behind, Greg Louden, to talk about just why it has taken so long to get into the hands of fans.
“It’s been a variety of things … I think the thing you’ll find when you play Quantum Break is that it’s so innovative. There hasn’t really been a game before that blends like a really high-quality, Triple-A action experience that you expect from Remedy with a Hollywood-style television show production, and just blending it in those two projects along itself. I think it kind of explains [why].”
“The other thing is the ambition that, rather than this being a live-action show, I think we’re always inspired by taking things forward and doing new things. Most television is passive, you sit there and you watch it, but in Quantum Break it’s active. You participate in it, you change the story. So, basically, you play as the hero in the game. you play as Jack Joyce, and you play as the villain in a moment called the ‘Junction Moment’. In most game’s you’re asked like “Do you want to do this?” and you don’t really know what it means, and then you see the consequences. In our game, we ask you “do you want to do this?” and you see two paths. you get to choose the path and then, instantly, the show kicks off, and you’ll see your decision replicated in the show.”
Seeing the game in action, it’s understandable that the project has been a massive one for the studio. Of course, time can erode some of the hype surrounding even the biggest blockbusters, which could be a problem for Microsoft and co. Whether or not Quantum Break will manage to gain traction with consumers upon its release remains to be seen, though, those that give it a shot despite the recent controversy surrounding its dual-release on Windows PC and Xbox Oneare in for something very unique.
Are you excited for Quantum Break despite its long development cycle? Get at us in the comments.
Quantum Break arrives exclusively for Xbox One and Windows PC on April 5, 2016.