Former president ofArkane Studios, Raphael Colantonio, has revealed the real reasons behind his departure from a studio that he helped found in favor of creating a new, smaller-scale development company. From his comments, it would seem that thereason for leaving Arkanein 2017, had more to do with the development process of AAA titles, than any negativity between Colantonio and his colleagues or publishers.
This latest revelation comes from an interview Colantonio recently did with PC Gamer, talking specifically about the creation of Wolfeye Studios and the newdeveloper’s debut title,Weird West. It was when speaking about the creative freedom that the team working on this new title has, that Colantonio commented on why he leftArkane Studiosand the games he had created there in the first place.
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According to Colantonio, becauseWeird Westis on a smaller scale than AAA titles likeDishonored, orArkane’s upcoming PS5 titleDeathloop, Wolfeye now has a lot more creative freedom. This means that Wolfeye is able to take more risks when it comes to the overall design of the game, something that isn’t as readily done when it comes to larger titles. Colantonio specifically sights the cost of making high budget games and the sales a AAA title requires to not only make a profit, but recover the cost, and it starts turning from developing a game, to making a product.
This can be best seen in the way AAA titles likePreyutilize DRM like Denuvo, something that has earned considerable stigma over the years, where extra, sometimes invasive protections are put into place to protect a game. As a result, developers and development team members that may want to push forward with creative new ideas and features that might not appeal to mass markets, but would appeal to a select audience, often get shut down. Colantonio describes the work being done onWeird Westas freeing, where he’s able to take risks that normally wouldn’t be allowed with a higher budget and a larger team, but might make for a better gaming experience overall.
WithWeird Westplanning for a 2021 release, it looks like the risks that indie development has allowed Colantonio and Wolfeye Studios is about to finally pay off. From the way Colantonio comments on AAA development, it would seem that the developer is fairly in-touch with players who have grown more and more resentful of the relative stagnation of big budget titles. This is likely why indie titles have grown such large fan bases around them, with features and ideas that aren’t often found in AAA titles.
