Dungeon Siege III Interview

Article Index

Eschalon: Book II

Publisher:Square Enix
Developer:Obsidian Entertainment
Release Date:2011-06-21
Genre:
  • Action,Role-Playing
Platforms: Theme: Perspective:
  • Third-Person
Buy this Game: Amazon ebay
GB: The perception is that there are "so many" action RPGs and Diablo clones on the market already, but I've played most of them, and there are very few that truly provided a stand-out experience. In the past decade since Diablo II, there have only been a few that have seen any real success, too, and even then they didn't incorporate specific mechanics like server-side characters that I feel are important to the longevity of an action RPG. Well-made action RPGs are less common than a lot of people think.

David: Yeah, and Diablo's a great franchise, but to my knowledge it's only on the PC. And hey, Dungeon Siege was mostly on the PC. I think they had a PSP version in the past.


GB: Yep, Throne of Agony.

David: But at the end of the day, why aren't those games more on the console? I think that there's a great audience. I think there's a great market share for them; I think consumers would love it. And I think maybe Square Enix identified an area that was underutilized or not noticed.


GB: I'd agree with you.

David: I'm excited, and I think that once Dungeon Siege III releases and everybody plays it and has a great experience, I think you're going to probably see a lot more titles like it. I don't mind being the leader if that's hopefully what we evolve into. That's not the reason why we did this, though. The reason why we did this was because we really thought (Hey, this would be a fun game. And Obsidian's great at making it. We've got a great fan base and they're expecting some good quality. Let's work together, let's deliver to them, and let's have a great time playing the game together.) That's really what the thinking was about.


GB: Speaking of Throne of Agony, why was the decision made to call the game Dungeon Siege III rather than rebooting the franchise with a fresh subtitle? Something that makes it clear that this is a multi-platform reboot and a different animal than the first two?

David: That's a good question - it has a lot to do with marketing and brand strategy, and we just felt that going with a numbered title followed the formula and kept it true to its heritage, and if we decide to move forward, maybe we'll revisit that thinking and that decision. Ultimately, it's what we all called it and it just kind of stuck.


GB: Alright, I appreciate your time, David.

David: Anytime.