Gearbox: Next Duke Nukem Needs a 'New Design Paradigm'

"Something that we haven't seen before."

By Alex Osborn

The key to getting the next Duke Nukem game right doesn't start with story, but rather an innovative design that brings something new to video games, according to Gearbox president Randy Pitchford.

"The solution for the next Duke game isn't just about story," Pitchford said on the latest episode of our monthly interview show IGN Unfiltered. "We can all dream up a story," he added, acknowledging that "playing with that is going to be a necessity" for any Duke game with a narrative. However, Pitchford believes the "true answer" for the next Duke game is that "there has to be something from a design point of view first."

He elaborated, noting "Duke 3D worked, not only because of the character—the reason why we all loved the game was because of the gameplay, and some of the innovations that were in the gameplay." Since those innovations aren't innovative concepts anymore, Pitchford explained that "you cannot trade on that today," as "Duke Forever tried and demonstrated what that result is." So, according to Pitchford, "we're going to need a new design paradigm. Something that we haven't seen before."

The Gearbox exec then broke down the core pillars of a game. "A video game is all of story, style and design, where story is the premise, it's the characters—who, what, why, where and when," he explained. Meanwhile, "style is the look and the feel—it's the art direction, it's the audio direction, it's how it reads basically as a style." And finally, there's design, which Pitchford described as the "gameplay—that's the camera, that's the control, that's the input, that's the feedback, and it's the genre. It's all of that."

When making a game, Pitchford said "you start with one point," and he's heard a countless number of pitches from developers for Duke that "always tend to start on story." However, he doesn't believe that's where they should begin. "You need to start with design because the correct Duke Nukem game that's going to succeed in the marketplace is actually bringing something new there," he explained. "That's what made Duke 3D a success, that's what helped Duke 3D became on the map... the character, the story and the style followed the design."

As such, creating a design that brings something new is what should come first, and then subsequently finding that Duke Nukem fits well within the context of that design, is what Gearbox hopes to do. "Whatever that design is where that's the thing that comes next, then it's going to work. And that's what we're hunting for," Pitchford said.

Don't miss part one of our IGN Unfiltered interview with Pitchford for more on Duke Nukem, including why Duke Nukem Forever "radically exceeded" his expectations. Also be sure to check out part two of our interview to find out what the Gearbox president had to say about the long wait for Borderlands 3, Overwatch's effect on the perceived success of Battleborn, and more.

Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @alexcosborn.

Let's block ads! (Why?)