Blank. Game Studios, founded by former devs from CD Projekt RED, sat down for an interview with us about their upcoming game. While not revealed yet, the studio did unveil a piece of concept art about their upcoming game. They also spoke about what their studio will be focusing on.
At my previous company, I dreamt of creating a refined, cinematic, and visually stunning game. Achieving this proved challenging in today’s large-scale open-world and role-playing games, which often suffer from generic mechanics and limitations. With like-minded friends, we founded a game development studio focused on prioritizing quality. Our motto is “Dare to be different and champion quality in gaming.”
Since many of the devs at Blank. Game Studios came from CD Projekt RED, which had a reputation of high quality, it stands to reason that they want to make their own mark in open-world games. Their experience with CDPR and its own past games seems like it’s going to help them in terms of organization, too.
We are first time founders, but our team has been battle-tested, leading large teams, managing substantial budgets, making tough decisions, streamlining projects, and delivering major releases. The lessons learned during that time strongly influence the values and goals of Blank. We strive to create fresh, bold experiences, avoiding replicas of existing games. Our commitment is to deliver highly polished games. Though ambitious, we believe it’s achievable and what players expect and deserve. We craft games for them.
Blank’s description of their upcoming game is that it’s an open-world, post-apocalyptic, character-driven story that they describe as having a “twist or two”, but we don’t know much more than that. We also at least know that while it will be very story-heavy, the game will also include action components.
This is just the first piece of art we decided to make public. It shows the mood we are after, but it’s not representative of the final art direction. It will be a story-driven game, but there will definitely be some action as well.
Blank’s new game is just starting to take shape and it might take a while before we see it in action. While it’s an original idea, the concept of it might have been in the devs’ minds even before they left CD Projekt RED.
The project has been in the works for a couple of months now. It’s an original idea that we came up with shortly after establishing Blank Game Studios.
The studio is also at least somewhat hinting that they’re considering whether or not to release the game on multiple platforms. While this would be a substantial challenge for an indie studio acting alone, the studio won’t be doing that, especially if they are doing multiplatform.
It’s highly probable you are right, but it’s not impossible you are wrong. We are not planning to self-publish.
Of course, at the same time, Blank Studios isn’t the only studio that’s been making, or is planning on making, narrative-based games lately. Considering games with strong narratives are getting more popular, studios have to make sure their games are unique enough to draw an audience, and Blank at least seems fairly confident they can do that, especially with the technology they’re using.
We are developing a unique game structure to convey the narrative. We are aiming for the replayability value of our game to be significantly higher than the vast majority of narrative driven games. We are working in Unreal Engine 5.
Of course, for a just-founded indie studio, things have to be organized properly, especially if you’re betting big on your first game being popular. Thankfully, since they’ve got so much experience from their work at CD Projekt RED, it seems like the studio at least has that part well in hand.
Two of my co-founders are executive producers and we have a detailed timeline, hiring plan and budget. I don’t think they would be pleased with me, if I shared it with you at this time. What I can say is that we took a modest approach to creating something exceptional.
The success of the game is even more important to the studio, as well, considering the ever-increasing amount of diversity for creating new experiences for gamers. While many triple-A games get the most attention, a huge amount of more independent games also provide a big part of gaming’s audiences, which the studio is also aware of.
I’m for any changes that enhance gamers’ experiences and offer more choices. As the founder of a newly established studio, I believe it is crucial for the industry to maintain its diversity, welcoming new ideas and providing options across a wide range of games, from indie premium titles to expansive open-world multiplayer experiences.
Of course, at the same time, the studio is also carefully observing market trends, not just in the sort of genres that they’re working on, but also in the various ways that games are marketed and, in some cases, made. Services like Xbox Game Pass, for instance, can have both advantages and drawbacks. Whether or not the game will come to those services, however, remains to be seen.
We are observing the market carefully and analyzing the influence of this model. It’s too early for us to say if we’d be interested.
The rising prominence of AI is also something that needs to be considered in video game development, and while many developers might see it as an easy way to cut corners, Blank Game Studios is at least being cautious about its use.
AI’s increasing role and value in game development are undeniable and poised for continued growth in the future. However, it is vital to approach its use with caution and establish necessary regulations. This applies to both copyright and security concerns.
As a studio founded by former developers from CD Projekt RED, obviously the team would be taking lessons from their old stomping grounds and applying them to their new game. In this case, Blank Game Studios is intending to make sure that their game shows that they’ve learned a lot from the lessons of Cyberpunk 2077.
The release of our first game will serve as the ultimate validation of our lessons learned from CD Projekt. At Blank, success means delivering a great and polished game upon release. Quality takes precedence over the size of the game. Clear goals, open communication, and careful descoping are all integral to our approach. One of our co-founders devised “dependencies tic tac toe” for our team. While It’s not fun at all, it demonstrates how we are planning ahead to avoid common mistakes in the industry.
With Blank Game Studios saying that they have a budget, a good hiring process, and a timeline to go through, hopefully all of this means that their first game will show that they have learned from their time at CD Projekt RED, including both what to do and what not to do.
We have no idea of when Blank’s first game will be released, but hopefully it will turn out to be a good first outing.
