Stormgate Is an RTS Built for 1v1, Co-Op, Casual Play, Esports and, Well, Anyone
With its sleek sci-fi/fantasy aesthetic, monstrous enemies, and mech-clad heroes, you’d be forgiven for mistaking Stormgate for a new Blizzard real-time strategy. And, in a manner of speaking, you’d be right; Stormgate might not be from Blizzard, but it is from some of that company’s brightest minds. These days they’re at Frost Giant, a new studio built from scratch by a collection of ex-Blizzard developers, and they have ambitions of taking some of the best ideas from StarCraft and Warcraft to the next level.
Among those minds is Tim Morten, the softly spoken former production director of StarCraft 2. Today he’s CEO of Frost Giant, still directing the production of a multi-faceted RTS. Stormgate, he tells me, was born at least partially out of a desire to evolve one of StarCraft 2’s most successful modes: co-op.
Co-op play was an “afterthought” for StarCraft 2. “It really wasn't something that we expected to resonate as much as it did with players,” says Morten. “But in fact it became the most popular mode in the game after we released it with Legacy of the Void. It's clear from that, that there was an appetite to play more socially.”
‘Social’ is an important word for Frost Giant, and Stormgate is designed with multiplayer in mind. As you’d expect, there are the classic 1v1 competitive clashes, but these are supported by a tournament system directly built into the game. Forget forums, Twitter, or Discord; you’ll be able to create leagues, teams, friends, and rivalries within Stormgate itself.
But co-op isn’t being considered as a casual mode on the side. It will run through everything, so much so that it feels like the game’s flashship idea. Story-driven campaign missions will be playable with a friend, and three players
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