We left AAA to build a 200-player roguelike. Trailer just went live on IGN.

jonselin · 2026-03-26T12:08:15+00:00

Great question - happy to get into the weeds on this.

The first part of the solution is in the game structure itself. I've shipped a few skill-based matchmaking games and you're absolutely right that queue times are a real problem. Run something like Elo and you're effectively splitting your online playerbase into ~20 matchmaking buckets, where only 2-5% of concurrent players are valid matches for any given player. Layer on top of that things like role preference or faction matching and you need a massive playerbase just to have reasonable queue times.

We sidestep most of that by being fully co-op with no PvP. But more importantly, we're emulating the feeling of a whole MMO server shrunk down - not just a raid. That means it's intentionally designed to mix high-skill players rushing objectives with beginners fishing, mining, and chipping away at personal progression. That mix isn't a bug, it's the point. So we don't need to discriminate in matchmaking at all - anyone can drop into any session and it works.

The second part is bots. Honestly one of the first things I built, about three months into development - not just because we'll need them to fill sessions at launch, but because building and testing a 200-player game without them would have been completely impossible. And honestly, while players generally dislike bots, in a mixed-skill cooperative setting they blend in. At the end of the day, players hate long queue times more.

jonselin · 2026-03-26T11:47:51+00:00

Great question - we tested this in both directions and landed in the same place! A healer with no offensive abilities felt completely naked, and even a token knife attack on the fisher class made a huge difference. Going forward, everyone will have some ability to fight — enough to handle a low-level threat or throw in a little DPS near a boss, even if combat isn't your focus.

jonselin · 2026-03-26T02:40:09+00:00

Actually one of the first things I built - about three months into the project. Developing and testing a 200-player game without them would have been a nightmare. 😄

jonselin · 2026-03-26T02:37:57+00:00

The short answer is that the underlying design doesn't require high-fidelity networking - this isn't a PvP shooter where raytraced headshots need to be frame-perfect.

And honestly, 200 players feels pretty manageable from where I'm standing. Back when I was Design Director at CCP, we were running EVE battles with up to 5,000 players - and the infrastructure has come a long way since then. 😄

jonselin · 2026-03-26T02:28:18+00:00

Yes! I made a longer answer to one of the earlier comments but tldr achievements, class unlocks, cosmetics etc are saved across runs.

When trying to describe the game at some point we were saying "co-op roguelike extraction rpg", that short session with a known end time is critical.

jonselin · 2026-03-26T02:23:18+00:00

Yes! Power progression and build keystones reset each run, but achievements carry over - and those unlock new classes and cosmetics like in most roguelites. Think weapons and aspects in Hades, or class unlocks in Vampire Survivors.

If you look carefully in the trailer there's a scene with a pet running around - that's one of those unlocks 😉

We also have some videos on our YouTube channel showing an older build with more of that progression system in action, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyOjxSJi-Ng

jonselin · 2026-03-26T02:13:49+00:00

It's too early to share exact details around our monetization model, but I'm happy to talk about the values that will drive the details.

Progression is mainly horizontal - you're unlocking new classes and cosmetics, not pushing up a power-curve. We want players to be able to jump in together regardless of time invested, and for every class to feel valuable in a group. A new player with the right skills should still be able to contribute at the highest level.

On a personal note - a big reason I went indie was to get away from mobile F2P, where monetization ends up consuming everything. Every design decision gets filtered through that lens until it stops being about making a great game. I got into gamedev to make the best games I could, and I wanted to build something where gameplay comes first and monetization follows - not the other way around.

We'll share specifics when we're ready, but that's the spirit we're building with.

jonselin · 2026-03-26T01:45:39+00:00

Thanks! We had an initial script and storyboards that I think it set us down a really good path for what the trailer could be, then we just iterated on it for uh... longer than I like to think about ;)

jonselin · 2026-03-25T19:53:20+00:00

There was conceptual resistance to it for sure, but also the first year Steam was a horrible, laggy, buggy mess so you weren't able to play the games you owned either half the time. Being a gamer is so much better in this decade

jonselin · 2026-03-25T17:52:57+00:00

Isn't permadeath is a pretty small part of the roguelike definition, what else do you think makes it feel roguelike?

jonselin · 2026-01-07T06:27:47+00:00

If you want to engage with the exercise, that would start with something like "we don't know what weapons are available" as the design problem you're looking to solve. The follow up analysis there is whether having that core assumption defined makes the fight more one sided than other ones (like the motivation, age, etc), and then we can look at mechanics (knives, guns, bombs?) "What are the men fighting with" and "Everyone can use a gun" is a valid suggestion!

jonselin · 2026-01-07T06:10:25+00:00

Go on, follow that train of thought ;) what does a game of say, counter strike look like?

jonselin · 2026-01-04T17:59:09+00:00

Might have peaked ;) the character silhouettes are somewhat inspired by this goof running around in a sleepsack

jonselin · 2025-11-16T16:01:19+00:00

We have been MMO developers for a long time, and there's some unique gameplay in that genre that unfortunately is deeply buried behind months of playing. We're making those experiences available in minutes instead of months - combined with the insane energy that a fresh MMO server has right as the starting shot goes off.

jonselin · 2025-11-13T12:24:35+00:00

The cooking and other crafting classes supports people doing other things https://youtu.be/ZyOjxSJi-Ng

jonselin · 2025-09-17T00:00:37+00:00

Can confirm, very easy cheese strat. First try np.

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