Although Housemarque, the Finnish creators of
Dead Nation, Outland, Resogun, and
Alienation, are already working on an all-new big-budget video game, the studio's currently focusing on
Stormdivers, its first battle royale title that will launch at some point in 2019, but it also currently in beta testing.
In a recent interview with VG247, Housemarque CEO Ilari Kuittinen revealed that making
Stormdivers a huge sales success will be a very hard task in the oversaturated genre, with already established video games like
Apex Legends, Fortnite, and
PUBG being played by thousands of gamers on a daily basis.
When
Stormdivers was pitched internally in 2013, the battle royale genre didn't exist, allowing the studio to create something that has never been seen before. “
The problem is with us we always have to change our idea. We originally thought that the game would be a premium game but now it should be free to play. And do we have enough content to do that? I don’t know,” Kuittinen said.
“
We’re kind of a bit short of money to fully realize what we want to do as a launch edition of the game.
Whether we’re going to succeed, it’s unlikely because of the tough competition,” he added.
When it comes to comparisons with the genre's most popular games, “
Apex did something that we had there. The maneuverability, and we have a class based thing,” said Kuittinen. “
In a way Apex has taken that a bit away from us. Our game is third person so it’s a bit different gameplay wise. We always had this idea that there are effects that push you forward. So there’s tornadoes or bombardments, there are PvE elements. The idea is that’s it’s a fast-paced thing. You can’t really sit tight somewhere in a toilet with a shotgun. That is still the thing we’re trying to accomplish there.”
“
It’s quite brutal, this industry. Quite brutal. It’s something that happens like, ‘oh shit’. The race is on and we just couldn’t make it,” Kuittinen concluded. While the
Stormdivers position is admittedly far from ideal, the good news is
Apex Legends has managed to become one of the biggest battle royale brands literally out of nowhere, so there's always hope that Housemarque's take on the "last man standing" gameplay will find a way to conduct a Blitzkrieg operation in the incredibly crowded market.
Daring teams and solo operators who are brave enough to dive into the eye of the recurring nano storm are trying not only to survive the competition but also the island itself, with endless threats looming around every corner. Only the strongest will make it out alive, with riches and rewards the island has to offer. Stormdivers is a 3rd person multiplayer centric shooter game, featuring chaotic battles and volatile explosions amidst a recurring nano-storm that swallows the beautiful and lush island surroundings to explore.
Stormdivers is coming to PC in 2019.