Thick Thighs Save Lives
NeoGAF's Physical Games Advocate Extraordinaire
Via veryaligaming:
Earlier today, we stumbled upon a job posting for the role of Combat Designer at CI Games. The listing’s description states, “You’ll be joining the team on an ambitious and original open world survival game with a horror thematic. We’re putting a unique twist on the formula, both in mechanics and the environmental challenges we set for the player. Visual quality is paramount, so we’re building in Unreal Engine 5.”
Although the job listing does not explicitly confirm whether this is an unannounced project, it’s worth noting that neither of CI Games’ two established franchises, Sniper: Ghost Warrior and Lords of the Fallen, falls under the survival horror genre. Thus, the most rational inference is that this is a fresh project presently under development.
As indicated by the job role description, this project will encompass combat, a fact reinforced by one of the job responsibilities specifying, “Pitch, prototype, implement, balance and ship a wide variety of enemy archetypes and/or bosses.” This clarification underscores that the project will indeed feature adversaries and boss encounters.
Additionally, this project may encompass roleplaying game (RPG) components and progression systems, such as weapon levelling and character builds, as indicated by another job responsibility, “Collaborate and structure enemy behaviour in conjunction with overarching RPG mechanics and game progression (weapon levelling, game stats, character builds…).”
Moreover, the job description indicates that this project is likely to feature melee combat, as one of the job requirements states, “3+ years of experience in Combat Designer role or 3+ years experience as Gameplay Designer in 1st/3rd person melee combat design.” It’s worth noting that melee combat is a fundamental element in the majority of survival horror video games.
The job listing for the Senior Technical Artist role at CI Games highlights, “Familiarity working and developing in a multi-platform, multi-project environment,” as one of the requirements, hinting that this project may be a multi-platform one, similar to Lords of the Fallen.
Nevertheless, there’s more to consider; a different job posting for the role of Economy Designer at CI Games implies that this project might also include microtransactions. This is evident from one of the job requirements, which states, “3+ years professional experience working with monetisation and game economy in a design role on a AAA game.”
Requirements for the Economy Designer position at CI Games. | Source: Teamtailor
Microtransactions are a contentious issue within the video game community, but they have become commonplace for companies, making it increasingly rare for a multiplayer video game to exist without them. The potential inclusion of microtransactions in this project could also imply that it might be a multiplayer video game.
Finally, in the job listing for the DevOps Engineer at CI Games, there’s a reference to an “ambitious and original multiplayer FPS in Unreal Engine 5.” While it may not necessarily pertain to the same project, if we assume it does, it hints that the “open world survival game” could potentially be a cooperative multiplayer first-person shooter — a concept well within the realm of plausibility.
