As the mobile FPS genre gains in popularity Madfinger Games, already famous for their Shadowgun mobile shooter series is preparing a new title for gamers.
Shadowgun Legends is a mobile FPS game that will have MMORPG elements. There are a lot of comparisons to Destiny, some even going so far as to call it the Destiny of mobile gaming.
We got the opportunity to sit down with the co-founder and CEO of Madfinger Games, Marek Rabas to find out a little bit more about their vision for the game, and their thoughts on game development.
Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this interview for the readers of 2P.com. For those who may not have heard about it could you tell us a little bit about Shadowgun Legends and MADFINGER Games?
Madfinger games studio is built around game industry veterans who have experience working on AAA games for PC and consoles like Mafia, Silent Hill: Downpour, Vietcong, Hidden And Dangerous. Since 2010 we have been creating hardcore games for mobile devices and achieved around 150M downloads. One of our first games was Shadowgun and we were always thinking how to make another cool game in this universe. After one year of prototyping and several iterations we have created Shadowgun Legends as a persistent online FPS with MMORPG elements with more than 50 different skills,tons of loots, super challenging RAIDs, Guilds, different PvP modes and COOP with heavy focus on social features. Basically, a lot of hot content!
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There have been several articles out recently that compare Shadowgun Legends in ways to Destiny, calling it the Destiny of mobile gaming. How do you feel about that comparison?
People will always try to compare and label things. We all do it. If they are comparing our game to Destiny, I really don't mind. Destiny is a great game with global appeal. We are using a similar concept for connecting players together in Shadowgun Legends and it’s also a Sci-Fi first-person shooter, but we don’t have any intention of being a Destiny clone. Once players have the chance to immerse themselves in Shadowgun Legends they will find it has it’s own identity with different goals and a unique experience.
‘Destiny of mobile gaming’ sounds pretty cool though, doesn’t it? :)
How does Shadowgun Legends differ from Destiny, beyond the obvious console versus mobile differences? Where is the comparison between the two the weakest?
Main differences are why people are playing Shadowgun, what their main motivations are for playing our game, why they want to stay in-game and why they want to return to the game. Shadowgun Legends is not only about the hottest weapons and cool gear. Whether it’s a quick game on your commute to work or a long session in your free time, it will be about fun and playing together. Madfinger is a more independent team compared to the Destiny guys. We don’t have a publisher and we have more freedom to do more crazy things…
It has been said that Shadowgun Legends has MMORPG elements to it as well as being a FPS. Can you explain a little bit about the MMORPG side of things?
There are still some awesome features that I cannot reveal at this point but we will gradually reveal them as we get closer to launch.
But let’s talk about the Skill Tree. There are around 50 different skills that you can obtain and level up. Some of them are “passive” skills that increase your various stats and some of them are “active” abilities that you can use them during gameplay. Also, players will have to be strategic in how to invest skill points so that it fits their playing style.
Other features are “dungeons”, very challenging RAIDS, Guilds, and we are focusing on metagaming also. We want to have our buzzing central “Hub” as the main living center, not just a place for taking quests, and selling and buying stuff. Of course there will be typical things like a market and quest NPCs, but also different pubs, a casino and other places where players could interact, talk , have fun, etc… We will give them a lot of options and let them run free!
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What inspired MadFinger to make a persistent world shooter for mobiles?
Some of us have been making FPS games since 2000 and we’ve also made a few of them on mobile. We were always thinking how to enhance gameplay for players, how to move outside of the generic single-player experience, and how to create better metagaming. Pure MMO games are designed to give players a lot of things to do, they have great metagaming and players could play almost endlessly. So our inspiration are most MMOs and games like Destiny, Division, and even Dark Souls/BloodBorne.
For those who have played previous Shadowgun games what will they find familiar about Shadowgun Legends? Are there any ways that it’s vastly different?
Players from previous Shadowgun games are in for a treat! NPCs from previous games will make a return, and will be evolved and consistent with the current time and world. The world is still run by big corporates and 'consumerism' is one of the dominant global social forces. Humans have taken up arms to fight against this dangerous and powerful enemy, but they have been fighting a losing battle. You will be stuck between these two worlds...
Will there be an in-game shop and if there is what type of items will you be able to find in it?
Yes , there will be a shop for premium currency, but
we will make sure that you can happily progress through the game without having the need to buy something. We call it FF2P or Fair Free To Play. On the other hand, we will show appreciation for players that invest money in our game and give them something special. These guys will help us make the game better and maintain support it for long time.
Some people worry about Pay To Win and cash shop advantages. How do you feel about that side of gaming?
I totally empathise with that view. Players are really sensitive to Pay To Win and they don’t like when games intrude on your gameplay/progression and push too much. We are trying a completely different approach. We’re are throwing out the Pay to Win mechanics, timers, any energy bar or fuel, etc. Everything that has an affect on your gameplay will be available for everybody.
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It’s still early in the development cycle but have you started considering how you’ll keep things fresh post launch? With new content or new modes or any other way of introducing new content?
Legends will be a living breathing beast of a game. We have designed Legends to be able keep it fresh and evolving for the next several years. There are a lot of ways we can achieve this. We have several layers from most simple to most difficult from our point of view. We could release new quests or new PvP modes, new Raids or even new planets. We want to evolve the game universe and we will give players the opportunity to participate and became a part of history..
MadFinger’s games are wildly popular on mobile and we’re aware that there is a level creator for one already. Can players expect to create levels and content for Shadowgun Legends?
We always wanted to include a level creator feature and we spent several months on prototyping.. Unfortunately, we had to put it on hold now. We ran into too many problems with it and mobile devices are also not ready - yet.
It has already been said that the game will be playable on Android, iOS, and Nvidia Shield, will there be any chance to play it on PC?
The game is cross-platform for mobile devices, but not PC/Console. For us to make Shadowgun Legends a ground-breaking awesome game we need to focus on only mobile and not get distracted by developing or porting for PC/Console otherwise we will be sacrificing quality.
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Will the experience differ much between tablets, phones and microconsoles like the Shield?
Of course there will be different experience, but mostly because devices itself.For example tablets have bigger screen than phones, Shield have gamepads. Our goal is that players will have best possible experience no regardless of the device or controller.
Gameplay is fine, and a persistent world is a hugely thrilling and ambitious project, but what do you have planned for making it more of an MMO type of thing? What can players look forward to socially?
Despite our success in mobile games, our biggest flaw in our games was always the social features. We are focusing on this now. We want to give players a lot of tools to socialize, to enjoy the game with their friends and build memorable experiences. And it always be up to you if you want to use these fun social tools. It is your game, your choice!
A very big thank you to Madfinger and Marek Rabas for taking the time to answer our questions. We’re very excited about having a studio of seasoned developers working on making such an amazing sounding game. We will of course continue to keep an eye on the development of Shadowgun Legends.
The developer also shows some concept of the maps in Combat Alpha, including the Hub, the Snowy Dark Ruins, Verdant Grassland, and Desert Arena. Several game modes are planned: free-for-all, team death-match, last man standing, duels, and banner-guard.
