XCOM and Civilization Devs Set Up New Studio
A group of developers from Firaxis Games, involved in XCOM 2 and Civilization 4, announced the creation of a new studio. It will focus on designing turn-based strategy games.
Greg Foertsch, former art director at Firaxis Games, has taken the helm of a new studio, Bit Reactor. The developer worked at Firaxis for over 20 years, participating in the work on such titles as XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2, Alpha Centauri, Civilization 3 and Civilization 4. Foertsch will be joined by former collaborators, including veterans involved in the first installments of XCOM.
In an interview with gamesindustry.biz Foertsch revealed a bit about Bit Reactor's plans. Namely, the team will focus on turn-based strategy games, which, in his opinion, are not given enough attention at the moment.
"There are ways to tell stories and convey information that doesn't require a wall of text. That's what we're focused on -- bringing that to the genre, and really blurring that line between what a strategy game is and what an action game is."
Foertsch gives as an example of the Mario Rabbids series and Gears Tactics, which could not be more different, but according to him, they share the same idea. The developer wants to innovate and refresh the strategy game formula. So we got the promise of games that are innovative, combine multiple genres, and emphasize story.
"Our goal is to win Game of the Year; we expect to go head to head with Halo or whoever is out there, just like we did in 2012."
Foertsch also touched on the topic of crossplay, expressing his love for the feature and his hopes to refine his future games, set to hit both PC and consoles.
