Marek Tymiñski, CEO of CI Games, spoke out about the future of the Polish publisher and developer in a recent press release. The comments from Tymiñski also went into depth on what the studio had learned from the recent release of Sniper Ghost Warrior 3, referring to the title's open-world setting as "Too ambitious versus what we could have been able to deliver in any reasonable amount of time." Many of our readers will remember that the original release date of SGW3 was pushed back from the end of 2016 to January 2017, then finally to April 2017, to "ensure the game was fully optimized" but it seems this still wasn't enough to meet the team's amibitions.
The CI Games CEO went on to say that his team simply "made the wrong math" when working out whether they could deliver on the project the way it was envisioned. According to Tymiñski the big mistake was trying to place the tactical shooter in the AAA category, when working with a relatively small team and limited timeframe. In his words,
By positioning the game in a AAA category, it took us away from what we could have done great. Instead we spent too much effort trying to catch up with other AAA titles in terms of their production values and features. That was a big mistake.However, the message from the studio wasn't all doom and gloom. Tymiñski concluded that the studio had learned many lessons over the three years that Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 was in development and, speaking of their next project, said
We’re planning to make a great tactical shooter where we can focus on exciting gameplay, some key mechanics, and missions that have depth without all of the trappings of a large open-world setting. We want to make this game even more tactical than SGW3.Details of the tactical shooter that the CEO is referring to have yet to be announced. The information from the publisher also reiterated that Sniper Ghost Warrior 3 will continue to be supported with updates throughout 2017.
Interestingly, Lords of the Fallen, which was co-developed with Deck 13 and others, also got a mention when talking about the company's future. CI Games, who hold the rights to the IP, reaffirmed that they are committed to a sequel to the souls-like ARPG but did not give any information on when this could be expected. Tymiñski spoke as far back as 2015 about the possibility of a sequel to LOTF and confirmed back then that Deck 13, who would've been working on The Surge at the time, would not be involved.
What did you think of Sniper Ghost Warrior 3's open world? Are there too many open world games on the market right now? Would you be happier with more focused, linear experiences? Give us your thoughts in the comments!
