Game Rant recently sat down with the developers ofRune 2: Decapitation Editionto talk about the game. There was plenty to discuss, too, asRune 2is at the center of a lawsuit that has embroiledRune 2’s new developer Studio 369, Bethesda, its parent company Zenimax, and the game’sformer development studio, Human Head. We had a chance to talk with Matt Candler, president of Studio 369; Sam Goldberg, general counsel and manager at the game’s publisher; Dan Felts, a producer for the game; and Mitch Alpiner, the community manager.
In short, Studio 369 claims in the aforementioned lawsuit that the original version ofRune 2was actively sabotaged by its previous developer and Bethesda, all to kill any competition that might edge in on Bethesda’sElder Scrollsproperty. Even so, Studio 369 has re-built the game from what was left and are preparing to release it this week.
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According to Studio 369,Bethesda and Zenimax were in talks to acquire Human Headlong before the publisher, Ragnarok Game, was ever aware. On the day afterRune 2’s original release, Human Head announced it was shutting its doors and would not continue to support the game. Apparently, this was the first the publisher had heard of it.
Felts: When we first found out, Mitch and I were planning on going out there for the launch. And we were told the studio isn’t available. My first reaction was what’s going on? Did it burn down? It wasn’t until a press release later that we realized what they meant.
Goldberg: It was a shock, and extremely abrupt for us to read the press release the day after the game launched. To hear the next day that our development partners had been acquired by Bethesda…So now we have no development team, we’re trying to support a game, and they wouldn’t give us the assets. They didn’t give them for months, and when they finally did it was completely jumbled—the file names were wrong, over 500,000 files that were improperly named. And then, the coup de grace, we found out that Bethesda had acquired all the same employees, and they were using computers withRune 2on them—our property—and before we had ever known about them being acquired, they had given Bethesda keys toRune 2!
Because of those actions, the publisher felt that its game had been sabotaged and decided to sue. However, it didn’t stop there. The publisher decided to continue developing the game with what was left of it, and have gone on to share its story with news outlets and prepare to launch a new version of the game with the titleRune 2: Decapitation Edition, in a nod to its break with Human Head. They got together and formed Studio 369, and went on with the grueling work of re-building the game. We wanted to know the reasoning behind, as opposed to cutting losses and doing something else with theRuneIP at a later date.
Goldberg: We’re not quitters, and we had fans and a community that we felt were counting on us. It was really hard, and those were some very difficult times in late 2019 and January 2020. It took a lot of work to bring it back…. The other reason was that we hadsupport from Epic because we were working in Unreal, and we had the framework of a good product. Our initial reviews were positive, and we felt that with the right attention we could make a really good product by supporting the game after launch, as most developers do. We didn’t want that failure on our resumes.
One thing that stood out was the allegation thatRune 2had been sabotaged because it wouldcompete withThe Elder Scrolls.Rune 2will be $30, and while it is an open-world RPG set in Viking mythology, it is more of an indie title that likely wouldn’t approach the blockbuster space of something likeElder Scrolls 6. In lieu of being able to ask Zenimax/Bethesda themselves, we asked our interviewees for clarification.
Candler: When we think about Zenimax and Bethesda and their behavior in the past, it seems like they take a pretty broad view of what competition is and how they are going to act to prevent competition from interfering…. I think the facts speak for themselves. We can’t see into the mind of Bethesda, but their behavior tells that story I think.
The other thing to think about in the games industry is that hit games can come from anywhere. Look atPath of Exile,PUBG, we’re in the same kind of budget range. It’s not uncommon, like withAmong Us. It’s what’s great about our industry. It can take a while to grow, but a hit game can come from a smaller team. An open world RPG with loot, quests, voice acting, and co-op – that ticks a lot of boxes.
Of course, it’s clear that there is also a personal element to this dispute. The new version of the game is subtitled “Decapitation Edition” to reference the publisher’s split with Human Head, and even the story in-game apparently reflects a tale of betrayal and retribution. Clearly, this team went through a difficult time to re-build their project, and we wondered if those negative experience had ultimately had a positive impact on the game.
Candler: Yes. In our lives, sometimes the best motivation is bad s***. We decided to take a stand and say ‘we’re not gonna let this happen.’ We’re gonna take a stand for the fans and because we want to make good games. We’re not just gonna walk away and abandon it. That fire, being pissed off, that was good motivation. And hey, we’re in the games industry, so we wanted to have a little fun with it. So yeah, we’ll throw a little shade and call itDecapitation Edition.
Somehow this story rings a bell. Perhaps it is reminiscent of another developer: Obsidian’s relationship with Bethesda. After Obsidian was no longer included in projects with the larger studio, it had to fund their games through Kickstarter, but now itsAvowedhas been slated as a challenger toElder Scrolls 6. Of course, the two developers are under Microsoft’s roof now, and so it’s less of a challenge and more of a comrade-in-arms now.
We asked ifRune 2: DEwould also try to compete in that space, and Candler simply stated that he feels more competition is good for the games industry. “…it’s not a zero sum game. You can enjoy more than one game, andRune 2at $30 is about 40 hours of single-player and co-op gameplay. Each game offers different things.”
Rune 2: Decapitation Editionlaunches on Epic Games Store this Friday, November 13th.
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