Studio is looking at a more passive approach to multiplayer
Supergiant Games’ next project, Transistor, will have multiplayer — but it’s not what you might think. “The combat maybe could work in multiplayer, but I don’t see this game having deathmatch arenas or whatever. I think I can say that pretty safely,” creative director Greg Kasavin told Rock, Paper, Shotgun. “Something we’re more interested in is a sense of feeling connected to other people who are playing in a subtle way.
“You can still have your personal experience around the story, but you always know you belong in a larger [world],” he explained. “For example, players can sometimes see traces of other players’ paths moving around. Things of that nature. What’s interesting to us about this world is that it lends itself to some interesting things like that.”
This is music to my ears as someone who very much loves games that blur the lines between single-player and multiplayer components. Kasavin also commented that cooperative play was considered for Bastion but ultimately cut. “Traditionally, we agree that co-op is probably the most enjoyable way to play action-RPGs — with 1-3 other people. But we found it to be quite at odds with our narrative goals.”
For Transistor, “[co-op is] not in the cards for us right now. But again, the part where you don’t feel alone in the world is very important to us. Solitude can be a very powerful feeling in games, but we want to use it intentionally. We don’t just want it to be the default mode of being in the game. We’d rather play around with it and use it purposefully.”
Supergiant’s Transistor Will (Sorta) Have Multiplayer [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
