Learn how Wayfinder takes colorful heroes from pages to play – Early Access begins August 15
blog.playstation.comAirship Syndicate, the developer behind the upcoming online co-op RPG Wayfinder, loves a colorful world. It’s no surprise why, either. The team’s co-founder — artist and Creative Director Joe Madureira — traces his roots back to the equally vivid world of professional comics.
It’s a legacy you can clearly see in the bold, vibrant character designs of the titular Wayfinders themselves. These are heroes, called back from death to push back a hostile force in an ever-expanding, thriving online world when Early Access launches on August 15.
On the road to the initial release, we sat down with Joe to discuss how the Wayfinders came to be and what makes them so special to both play and create.
Where do you start designing a Wayfinder? Does it begin with an idea of what the character should look like, or does the design emerge from the gameplay?
Joe Madureira: It’s definitely both. Sometimes we start with a theme in mind, like with Venomess. We’ll say “Wouldn’t it be cool to have a character who was some sort of poisoner? Do we already have a character that does damage over time? Do we even want that?”
Other times, we step back and realize we don’t have enough ranged characters, or we haven’t featured a particular type of weapon enough to show players what’s possible. Sometimes we use those kinds of concessions to at least narrow things down.
But, you know, sometimes we just start drawing something cool and see where it takes us.
What led you to build a game based around the Wayfinders instead of more traditional custom RPG characters?
Well, it’s because we actually started with a more blank slate, generic characters where you picked a class – like a rogue or a warrior. We started designing the warrior first, with a classic
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