After making some lofty claims that Velocity 2X would be “a game-of-the-year winner” when it launches in early September on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, developer FuturLab posted a ton of tweets last night about their upcoming game, including how they will be surprised if a reviewers gives 2X less than a 7/10:
Some people are asking why we set an embargo. It’s to create as much noise as possible on the day of release – to cast a wide net. Reviews trickling in here and there have little impact. Whereas if they all hit at once, it’s hard to miss.
Hoping for lots of 8s, 9s and 10s. No doubt some people won’t get it at all and give it a 7. Will be surprised if there’s anything lower.
Elsewhere on Twitter, FuturLab said, “For those that actually open their eyes and look, PS Vita is where it’s at,” before then explaining how Velocity 2X became a PS4 and PS Vita title:
It’s been such a busy year. We were initially planning to release [Velocity 2X] in November last year. Megalolz. That’s when it was just a PS Vita title. We grossly underestimated the effort required to develop an engine, tool, & game in parallel.
Fortunately, [PlayStation’s Shahid Ahmad] extended/upgraded/awesomized our contract to include PS4, so we had more time to dedicate to the basics.
Even then it was an incredibly challenging amount of work, and whilst never asked our staff to work late, some inevitably did. You should know that we all shouldered the responsibility of making a stunning product for you folks, because we care. Not least [Technical Director Hussain Sheikh] & [Lead Artist Chris Goff], who went well above COD to deliver an experience worthy of your belief and support.
As a result we’re all very tired, but I think [at EGX] will be a chance to soak up some vibes and channel what we’ve learned for the next game.
After all the effort and up and downs, I’ve been super keen to find out what the press think. So the wait of the embargo is killing me too!
FuturLab then talked about the business side of games:
The business side of games is a turbulent place right now, you can’t imagine how lucky we’ve been for the opportunity to create this game.
In the creative industries, all you can possibly wish for is the opportunity to keep moving forward, keep taking the next challenge.
We put our heart and soul into Velocity 2X, against many odds, in the hope it would create more opportunity for the next leap up the ladder. We like leaps. Got no time for steps.
When you’ve all had a chance to play Velocity 2X, I’ll ask you what you’d like to see in a third game.
While FuturLab wouldn’t say what their next game is, they did tease it:
Oh yeah, our next game. When [Hussain Sheikh] and I played the first prototype level, we just looked at each other and said ‘wow. It’s dynamite.’ When we showed Shahid, he said, ‘You’ve knocked it out of the park. Again.’ That park is massive too.
Lorenzo, Shahid’s right hand, couldn’t stop playing it. Our meeting overran considerably and he cursed us as he was pulled away by Shahid.
Tip: when prototyping, aim for loud swearing.
Never forget seeing Tarantino questioned about how indie film had become so over saturated and hard to succeed in. He called bullshit on it, and said you make something dynamite that blows up in people’s faces, it’ll get seen. My goal ever since: make dynamite.
Velocity 2X is shit hot, but it’s not dynamite. Our next game is.
Will you be buying Velocity 2X next month?
