RPS: For the series’ future, do you think you’ll go back to silent protagonists, or was Daud a test for characters with more personality?
Colantonio: We always come back to the same thing: both can work and be done well. It’s gonna be interesting. We’re thinking about this very exact topic right now, though. It’s at the heart of our discussions right now. Are we gonna go with a silent protagonist or not? Doing that with Daud was a way for us to test a little bit. See if people like it. So it will also depend on what we hear from players [after they finish Brigmore Witches].
RPS: Speaking of, Dishonored is a “franchise” now, according to Bethesda. Hooray, it’s all growed up! Is that what you always wanted for the game? Did you originally envision the world for the purpose of telling multiple stories and expanding to other locations?
Colantonio: It is incredibly satisfying. We started with nothing. I still remember the days where we were on the white board saying, “OK, this game is going to be about an assassin with supernatural powers.” And eventually, it became what it is now.
It’s very validating for us, because it’s the kind of game we always wanted to make. They’ve always been hard to sell. Were they not accessible enough? Was the market not really for it? Did the publisher not really understand it? Were we not good at it? I don’t know. But the point is, these kinds of games have always been hard to make and sell. Having success with it tells us we should keep all these values and do more of this kind of game. I think hardware is powerful enough to accept these kinds of games with all the depth and memory they need, which was a challenge a few years ago. So it all says stronger than ever that we should keep doing these kinds of games.
