The Rise of the Underdogs: AAA Talent Shines in Wartorn’s Indie Spotlight

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As a dedicated gamer, I’m super excited about the announcement from Stray Kite Studios – a team of some of the best and most productive developers in the industry. They’re cooking up something fantastic called Wartorn. Now, here’s the interesting part: While it’s an indie game, it’s got a powerhouse of AAA talent behind it, which brings both advantages and hurdles.

This year, the highly anticipated debut game from Stray Kite Studios, titled “War-torn”, is set to release. This studio is a collective of top-tier AAA talent, with team members who have made significant contributions to games such as “Bioshock”, “Borderlands”, and “Age of Empires”. The studio’s chief creative officer, Paul Hellquist (who was the lead designer on the original “Bioshock”), recently spoke to Game Rant about the team’s combined expertise and their adjustment to the more limited scale of “War-torn”.

Senior Designer On Borderlands Talks Pivoting To Indie-Style Development With Wartorn

The AAA Pedigree At Stray Kite

Hellquist extensively discussed the team behind “Wartorn,” highlighting the diverse backgrounds of its skilled developers. Notably, members such as Paul Slack and Kyle King have previously worked on hit games like “Age of Empires 2” and “Borderlands.” During his talk, Hellquist explained how their past experiences significantly contribute to the unique qualities of “Wartorn.

In our studio, having a rich background in AAA game development, which includes creating and delivering premier quality games, gives our team the advantage of knowing the essentials for success. To be more precise, our lead artist, Paul Slusser, has contributed significantly to several real-time strategy (RTS) games like Age of Empires 2 and 3, as well as Halo Wars. His expertise has been instrumental in shaping the art style for isometric camera views and offering insights into effective solutions that have proven successful in the past, particularly for managing strategy games using a gamepad.

Ryan Slack, our primary software developer, boasts extensive UI knowledge from decades spent in AAA games. This expertise has been instrumental in setting up a user-interface system that allows us to produce the numerous UIs needed for our game efficiently. Meanwhile, Kyle King, our lead artist, excels in animation and his background in cinematics and character animations from Borderlands have significantly contributed to crafting distinctive movements and poses for our Wartorn characters.

In this piece, Hellquist delves deeply into the unique abilities that Stray Kite’s trio offers. It’s evident that each member is perfectly matched for the strategic aspects of Wartorn. The game’s distinctive isometric perspective and squad-centric gameplay are expected to set it apart from other roguelikes, and there’s no doubt that the team’s AAA experience in various genres adds significant value to the project.

Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that the team comprises several veterans from the Borderlands series. Notably, Hellquist held positions such as a senior designer for the first Borderlands game and creative director for Borderlands 2. It will be intriguing to observe how their past experiences influence the project, given that Wartorn’s gritty, dark fantasy setting contrasts sharply with the humorous tone of the Borderlands series.

The Challenges And Freedoms Of Wartorn’s Indie Scale

Regarding the prospect of leading a team such as this towards an independent game, Hellquist expresses a positive outlook. Compared to the huge budgets of AAA series, Stray Kite Studios operates with more constraints as an indie studio. However, Hellquist points out that this independence also offers unique advantages: it allows for greater creative freedom.

Wartorn stands out as an independent production, distinct from the large-scale AAA games many of us have previously collaborated on. Unlike the vast financial resources of big publishers, Stray Kite Studios is self-financing this project. However, the advantage lies in our ability to exert unparalleled control over the game’s development, an experience that most of us haven’t had with AAA productions. The process has been invigorating as a result.

In contrast, Hellquist highlighted the difficulties they face due to their smaller scale compared to games like Bioshock. He explained, “We’ve had to curb our aspirations since our team is only a fraction of what we’ve worked with before. We have big, grand ideas, but sometimes we need to remember that our current team is less than 10% the size of those we’ve worked with in the past.” Just as many independent games have demonstrated, small yet talented teams can achieve remarkable feats with minimal resources and an abundance of creativity.

Wartorn is coming soon to Early Access on PC.

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2025-01-18 22:03