„Terrifying” time for new teams hasn't discouraged WoW and Helldivers 2 veterans. Now they're making a game not just for players
The current times are clearly not a good time to start a new development team, but veterans of Helldivers 2, World of Warcraft, and Battlefield have not been discouraged by this 'terrifying' and 'crazy' prospect.
Everyone who follows information about game development knows perfectly well how difficult the situation is at the moment. Industry media constantly teams. Craig Morrison (once responsible for games in the Battlefield series and World of Warcraft), who, together with Colin Cragg and other veterans (including from the Arrowhead studio), founded his own company, realizes how hard it is to stay in business these days
The devs recently gave an interview to GamesRadar+ editorial team, during which they itted that the current situation in the market is "terrifying" in the context of opening a new studio.
To call the situation the industry is in at the moment "ridiculous" would definitely be an understatement. "It's silly," Cragg said, then added: "Here we are in 2025 where, at the beginning of the year, with the change in government in the United States, everyone's like, 'Oh no, it's gonna be pro-business now, and everything's supposed to start kind of unlocking itself.'" But […] the risk element of things right now has everybody holding their breath. Everything is locked up, nothing is moving.
Despite this, Cragg and his companion Morrison decided last year to establish the Blue Scarab Entertainment studio. This is how the former EA DICE employee, now the game director (Cragg took over as the company's CEO), justified his decision:
Why do it? […] We genuinely feel that there's a space in the market for something new and different, and that takes different demographics seriously. Because we didn’t want to be the 45th survival game that's going to market in the next six months.
We really hope that that starts to show people that there is another path and that it attracts both audience and investors in the future. That we're able to show that you can make quality experiences for people that aren't […] neatly within the gaming box.
Instead, Blue Scarab Entertainment, based in Stockholm, Sweden, is currently working on its first project: MMORPG Equinox: Homecoming. The game developed on the Unreal Engine 5 is currently in Steam's Early Access and has 350 reviews, of which 78% are positive.
The title's action takes us to the fictional island of Alderwood. However, the idyllic atmosphere there is disrupted by a mysterious murder. Collaborating with old and new acquaintances, we must uncover a dark conspiracy. During the game, an important element is the horses, which we use to traverse a charming corner both far and wide.
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