Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy - Interview

RPG Jeuxvideo interviewed Alexander Chernyavskiy about Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy:

Alexander Chernyavskiy talks about Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy

To go with the launch of the Kickstarter campaign for their new title, Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy, the ATOM Team development team has been kind enough to answer some of our questions regarding their latest game. If you are into Swordhaven, don’t hesitate in checking its Kickstarter page! We also have a French-translated version of the interview right here.

Hello, and thank you! Could you introduce yourself?
I’m Alexander Chernyavskiy, one of the writers and game developers for Atom Team, a small indie crew of 10 guys spread across Europe, making video games. Our previous projects were the two post-apocalyptic titles: ATOM RPG and its stand-alone sequel/expansion - Trudograd. Right now we’re working on our third game— Swordhaven : Iron Conspiracy.

How did you get the idea for Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy?
Almost every developer has a backlog of projects they want to work on. Talking about ATOM, the idea of creating a Fallout-inspired RPG has been with us since 2008, simply because we’re fans of the series :)
The idea for Swordhaven came from different sources that I’ll avoid naming so as not to spoil some parts of the game, but mainly we wanted to try and develop something new and fantastical.

What are your influences for the development of the game?
I’d say our main role models are Baldur’s Gate 1 (as well as other Infinity Engine titles), Neverwinter Nights, and a mostly forgotten Black Isle project called Lionheart. That’s not all, of course. But to list every game that possibly influenced us in creating Swordhaven seems like a futile undertaking.

Since when have you been working on Swordhaven?
We discussed its concepts and mechanics on and off for a year and a half now, but the really intense part during which we created most of what’s going to become the Kickstarter demo took us less than a year.

What are your plans for Swordhaven?
If we get the Kickstarter support we require, late 2025 will be the time we’ll introduce our biggest and most complex game yet to the world :) Before then there will be a period of early access, when we’ll collaborate with our players to improve the game before launch.

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(French version here)