[Bonehunters]

Was wondering how you feel if this franchise took a similar path as The Witcher series?

[Dadding]

There was actually a game in the works a while back:


"Vohra spent about six months working to launch an online game based on the works of Steven Erikson, the Canadian author of a popular fantasy series called The Malazan Book of the Fallen. But after Erikson backed out of the deal around January of this year, Vohra was back to square one"


Erikson has some pretty strong ideas (that I agree with) on the subject as of a few years ago:


"We have been approached a couple times regards a video game version, up to and including meetings with the developers. This was where the proposal was ultimately rejected by me and Cam, since we’re not interested in a game version that emphasises action over story. Our view of what would make a good Malazan game is either a) not yet possible or not considered financially viable"

[Gorefest]

That's the big issue, isn't it? Where are you going to go if you don't take it down the Witcher or Dark Souls type mechanic? Perhaps there is scope to do it in a 'Detroit: become human' or adventure game style. But that risks it becoming quite niche and, indeed, not financially viable. Although the GoT interactive story stuff seems to be doing quite well.

[Dadding]

Gorefest, on 04 December 2019 - 11:13 AM, said:

That's the big issue, isn't it? Where are you going to go if you don't take it down the Witcher or Dark Souls type mechanic? Perhaps there is scope to do it in a 'Detroit: become human' or adventure game style. But that risks it becoming quite niche and, indeed, not financially viable. Although the GoT interactive story stuff seems to be doing quite well.

I could see an RPG/MMORPG working out well, though the market is arguably saturated with pseudo-medieval MMORPGs at the moment and it's notoriously hard to make a new product be anywhere as successful as something like WoW. Also a proper Malazan-themed RPG would be a lot of work.

Interestingly, the Vohra guy in the first article I linked earlier worked for Runescape/Jagex a while back and managed to introduce Malazan story-elements into one of the game's most iconic quests: Monkey Madness. There's an elite "10th Squad", an assassin named Karam, and a bald quirky squad mage. Granted they're stuck on an island full of monkeys, not in Darujhistan, but it's the closest experience I've had to a Malazan video game yet.

This post has been edited by Dadding: 04 December 2019 - 11:51 AM

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Dadding, on 04 December 2019 - 11:51 AM, said:

Gorefest, on 04 December 2019 - 11:13 AM, said:

That's the big issue, isn't it? Where are you going to go if you don't take it down the Witcher or Dark Souls type mechanic? Perhaps there is scope to do it in a 'Detroit: become human' or adventure game style. But that risks it becoming quite niche and, indeed, not financially viable. Although the GoT interactive story stuff seems to be doing quite well.

I could see an RPG/MMORPG working out well, though the market is arguably saturated with pseudo-medieval MMORPGs at the moment and it's notoriously hard to make a new product be anywhere as successful as something like WoW. Also a proper Malazan-themed RPG would be a lot of work.

Interestingly, the Vohra guy in the first article I linked earlier worked for Runescape/Jagex a while back and managed to introduce Malazan story-elements into one of the game's most iconic quests: Monkey Madness. There's an elite "10th Squad", an assassin named Karam, and a bald quirky squad mage. Granted they're stuck on an island full of monkeys, not in Darujhistan, but it's the closest experience I've had to a Malazan video game yet.

I've always wondered if Monkey Madness was an homage to Malazan!