Travis Baldree and Runic Games Interview

A new studio called Runic Games has arisen from the ashes of Flagship Studios' demise. I managed to get a hold of Travis Baldree, founder and president of Runic Games and formerly the creator of Mythos, to ask him a few things about his new studio and the plans he has in store for it.

How did you come up with the name Runic Studios?  
I wish we had a better story about this, but it was a long process of elimination, where every name we thought up had already been used by somebody else.  We went through rounds of votes, pared it down, and then a couple of us picked the one that ranked highest between us. Boring! But true.

Who among the team is joining you, are there any people from FSS?
We've hired back all of the original Seattle team, and Max Schaefer from San Francisco is onboard as well. He's been effectively on the Mythos team for quite some time already.   

What relationship, if any, do you have with the lasting members of Flagship studios? Will we see some sort of collaboration between you both?
There were a lot of great folks at Flagship, many of whom have already been snapped up by other companies in California. There are many individuals there I wouldn't hesitate to work with again. 

What is the feeling around the office of this recent change?
It was definitely a hard thing - but at this point, I think we're all happy to be sticking together, and excited to work as one on a project right from the outset. We're all really upbeat at this point!

What types of games are you planning to design?
We thought we were headed in the right direction with Mythos - I think our collective desire is to do that type of game right and get it out the door.  

Is there any specific setting for the game you really want to utilise?
We're still talking about this, but we have some definite ideas - we're very interested in building a richer story and setting at the outset for whatever we're going to do.  Since this project won't begin its life as a network test, we have the opportunity to work together to build something a lot more interesting, I think.

What things did you learn at Flagship Studios that you think have helped you improve your game design and why do you think many current AAA titles don't achieve their potential goals?
I think our focus with Mythos on spending a lot of time with our testing community, listening to what they had to say, and responding to it was key to Mythos' development.  The game advanced by leaps and bounds as a result.  Some of those changes were hard to swallow, but I'm glad we listened and acted.  Part of what made that possible was our focus on doing a 'lighter' game that didn't require as much time to develop art assets for - we could change direction much more quickly.  We added an Overworld in something like 3 weeks - that included developing tools and artwork and props. If we'd been on the bleeding edge of technology, that simply wouldn't have been possible.  It think that flexibility is key to making a good game, at least for us.

Where is your newest studio going to be located?
We're staying here in Seattle

I know this is a bit early to ask, but are there plans to look for a publisher for your games?
We are definitely speaking to publishers right now - we're exploring several possible options outside of that, however.

What sort of business plan are you guys thinking of using for your first new game?
I don't want to publicly commit to anything just yet, but I will say that the free-to-play style of game is very appealing for a lot of reasons, especially with so many subscription games in the marketplace.

What sort of advertising are you planning on doing for your new company or will it be word of mouth mainly like you did with Mythos?
It's hard to say at this point - but our aim is definitely to build a strong core community that works together with us on making the best game we can, and I think that goes a long way.

If you had unlimited resources what's one specific game idea you'd really like to put forward and make?
Apart from relocating to the Caribbean?  

In a world of unlimited resources, I'd want to build a game with the incredible depth and consistent surprise of Nethack, and the polish and presentation that Blizzard is known for. I have a feeling that's what a lot of people want.

If you could say one thing that you think diffrentiates you from other gaming companies out there, what is it?  
I like to think that the way we work with our community sets us apart. I think there are probably many other smaller devs that do it ( maybe some larger ones too - I'm not sure ), but engaging with people on a pretty personal level, and considering them part of your development effort is something that feels sort of special about the way we approach things.

Is there anything you would like to say to all the fans of Mythos who have supported you through these times and will there be any concepts from Mythos incorporated into your future games?
I hope we can get something set up here soon so we can all keep in touch. We want to bring you all back in for whatever we're going to do next!  You have been hugely important to us, and we've loved the experience of working together with you. I think we'll probably bring a lot of the concepts from Mythos over to whatever we do next - as mentioned previously, we really believe in this sort of game.

Finally, for the fans of Mythos, will Zardon be making it back into any of the games?
Hahaha!  Well, you never know.....