A few weeks ago, news broke the Wheel of Time franchise was being adapted into an open-world role-playing game from Iwot Studios, a subsidiary of the production company behind the show. If that sounds too good to be true, Iwot’s reaffirmed that this is no joke, and the studio hopes to bring the fantasy series back to the medium.
Before this news, Iwot acquired the Wheel rights back in 2004 when it was Red Eagle Entertainment, but hadn’t done anything up to now. As such, there’s been a lot of skepticism online among Wheel fans, but Iwot co-founder Rick Selvage and game studio head Craig Alexander told IGN they’re seeing this project through.
With the Prime Video show based on the Robert Jordan novels having just wrapped up its third season, Selvage said it felt like the “right time” to get a game off the ground. Alexander revealed they’re currently in the pre-production phase: they’re on the hunt for leadership, followed by a team to build out the prototype, then hope to hire a staff of “upwards of 200-300” to develop the full project.
“It’s going to take time,” continued Alexander of the whole process. The pair are very forward thinking—sequels, DLC, and expansion paths are all part of the plan to “build out as much of the world we can.”
He considers making the first game the “most difficult” to develop because of proper scope and ensuring “we have a compelling, high-quality release…but then set up for a success in the future.” Alexander likened the strategy to a live-service game in terms of planned operations and supporting Wheel of Time “for the long term. We have a big story to tell, and I don’t underestimate the amount of work to build out the whole world, but our intent is to do that.”
Further details on this game, such as its specific setting and consoles, are being considered. What Selvage and Alexander do know is it won’t be an MMO—the franchise is “so character-centric,” said Alexander, who’s previously worked on Lord of the Rings Online—but may be a single-player game with a dash of multiplayer, similar to Baldur’s Gate 3.
The two ultimately stressed their intent to treat the game as they do the Wheel of Time show and upcoming prequel movie and “deliver on our commitments on those projects in a way fans are thrilled about.”
You can read Selvage and Alexander’s full discussion here.
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