A new studio has come together with offices in Copenhagen and Budapest, boasting veterans from titles likeTomb RaiderandHitman, with the roguelikeRaiders of Blackveilbeing its first title. Said company, Wombo Games, had been operating in stealth for some time untilBlackveil’s announcement came in late April.
Game Rant spoke with Wombo CEO Janos Flösser in a recent interview about how Wombo came together and how it leverages talent from a variety of major franchises–as well as Copenhagen’s bustling artistic scene–to make for a special debut withRaiders of Blackveil.
Bringing Together the Real Raiders of Blackveil
Flösser started his career in gaming in 1997, as one of the founders of IO Interactive. Shortly thereafter, IO launchedHitman: Codename 47, which was the introduction to thestoried and long-lastingHitmanfranchise. While best known forHitman, Flösser also highlighted other IO titles likeKane and Lynch,Mini Ninja, andFreedom Fighters. In fact, three of Wombo’s founders were also founders of IO nearly thirty years ago, ensuring Wombo is forever connected to IO interactive’s legacy.
Flösser went on a journey with IO Interactive, as the company was passed around from owner to owner, eventually landing in the hands of Square Enix. During that time, Flösser served as the chief creative officer for Square Enix West, which oversaw the company’s European and American studios. After eight years in this role, he decided to strike out on his own, and looked back to the Danish origins of IO Interactive for his new venture.
Copenhagen is a hotbed for very talented game developers. We have plenty of game education courses in Copenhagen, combining the fine arts and, you know, the creative schools with the universities. IT University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, and the Animation Workshop in Viborg, and you have the National Film School of Denmark in Copenhagen teaching gaming. And we have something called DADIU [The National Academy of Digital, Interactive Entertainment]. This is the combination of all these institutions doing games, and we just match up as we go.
As a result, Copenhagen is the primary location for the studio behindRaiders of Blackveil. However, Flösser works at the second, smaller location in Budapest. Flösser is Hungarian, so working with a few Hungarian developers in Budapest suits him, even if the Budapest studio is particularly small, with only a handful of employees.
In fact, Wombo isa small studio overall, though Flösser speaks highly of the talent the studio has drawn, especially in terms of art, music, visual and special effects, and sound design. On top of that, most members of the studio wear multiple hats, filling different roles as the needs arise. He cited the way Wombo’s art director also does work on sound design, and audio experts work on the game’s music. Game director Chirstopher Nelson even doubles as level designer.
This is actually the size of studio Flösser likes most. After working at Square Enix, he found that large studio leadership is more about managing people than making games, so a smaller environment lets him keep his focus on making the best games possible, instead.
Raiders of Blackveil Emphasizes the Joy of Gaming
In no small part, Wombo is driven byRaiders of Blackveil’s unique pitch and promise. It’s a roguelike thatbrings together elements of RPGs, MOBAs, and moreto bring something together that the entire studio finds inspiration in. Flösser explained how the vision of the game has helped drive the developers on.
I think the mood and the feel of the game is pretty much what inspires the talent at the studio. They love concept arts, and love those mood boards and stuff. So we just went with it and said, ‘how much can we realize out of it?’ So what is the real game feel of what we do and constantly having the game playable, that was the main purpose. And I don’t think Christopher will let it go before it’s massively entertaining. So. I think the purpose of doing an indie game is to get back to the joyful things in gaming. Focus on the right stuff. Focus on the enjoyable part of it and the social part of it, and it’s ended up like the game we’re doing today.
From that inspiration, Flösser emphasized how Wombo’s philosophy is to “let talent exercise their talent.” The approach toRaiders of Blackveil’s development was to build the game as the team went–Nelson wanted something early on that the devs could get their hands on, to see and feel, so that the game was built by the studio’s talent brick by brick. By building on top of what existed, and then trying it out, the studio could see what was coming together and what wasn’t. Flösser also recognized that each time he and the development team disagreed on something, the developers had the right take, and eventually he deferred to their judgment.
Raiders of Blackveil, therefore, is a testament to what skills Wombo has at its disposal and the developers' expertise being employed as freely as possible. Though Flösser insists on keeping his expectations for the game humble, he is buoyed by the reaction of testers who were often losing themselves in lengthy play sessions. This has motivated Wombo to not let the game go until it’s massively entertaining, and it sounds like the studio is well on its way to accomplishing that goal. For those interested in more information onRaiders of Blackveil, it will be shown off atJune’s Steam Next Fest.
