It was 2015, when Ulf Andersson, responsible for the series 'Payday', left the ranks of starbreeze to form his own development studio. To do this he gathered a small group of collaborators with whom he gave rise to “10 Chambers” based in the capital of Sweden. Nine years later and following the irreducible success of its debut paranoid cooperative shooter title 'GTFO', the developer under the powerful economic protection of Tencent, currently has more than a hundred workers in its digital domains, many of them dedicated body and soul to 'Den of Wolves'an ambitious project, which has among its resources the budget, talent and tools required for a production of such proportions.
The long-awaited return of the “king of robberies”
After gaining a prominent position among the most disturbed cooperative shooter players with 'GTFO', 10 Chambers does not stop working on the development of its next adventure. In these terms, Andersson, director of the studio, an expert in the genre and undisputed king of heist in its most playful aspect, explains it in these terms, which, in addition, maintains its intention to fulfill the promise of taking cooperative heist shooters to levels of unprecedented popularity.
Precisely on this premise 'Den of Wolves, a technological thriller with shootings, robberies and generous doses of cooperative adrenaline with “cyberpunk” overtones, which draws on the knowledge acquired with the 'Payday' series, to raise the stakes thanks to the configuration of a complex and detailed universe with a futuristic setting, which promises an endless amount of variables and interesting game possibilities. LA RAZÓN flies directly to the studio's base in Stockholm and we settled there for a few days to attend the event that celebrated the collaboration that the studio has signed with the renowned Issa Salliander, whose art will bring both the game and the world of Midway City to life and, in the process, check out the status of this exciting production. Come with us for a walk and anticipate what (with many possibilities) will become a trend of the future.
Midway City, a bastion of freedom
The plot of the video game is set in 2097. Deep learning artificial intelligence manages to evolve to control practically any facet of human existence, including the flow of money. Technology is also progressing to the point of making any type of countermeasure completely inefficient. It has become an uncontrollable tool and the incessant cyber attacks perpetrated by hackers assisted by powerful software have emptied the coffers of the main multinationals on the planet, causing the collapse of the world's economies.
Midway City, an unregulated innovation metropolis located in the North Pacific Ocean, kept safe by a closed network that does not employ neural AI, then emerges as a bastion of freedom, dominated by technocrats and unscrupulous corporations. This is where players will act, as “external employees,” in conflicts between rival corporations. The operational city for players, founded by large companies as a result of the collapse of global economies, aims to collect and reproduce a number of settings. “A game is an artistic creation in itself,” Anderson explains. “A city is full of options: there is advertising, fashion, stores, there is a lot of creativity, so we have to look for creativity not only in the game but externally, look for something more, look for an injection of creativity and that is the reason why we look for collaborations with artists from all over the world, from all cultures.”
Job for Wolves
With such a background, this attractive kaleidoscope draws inspiration from works such as 'The Matrix', 'Blade Runner', 'Ghost in the Shell', or the books of Philip K. Dick, with the promise of providing an exciting and engaging story, in which Each element has been meticulously planned to fit organically into your universe, from the city layout to the types of weapons and resources.
In addition to exploring its streets and corners, in Midway City the player and his team They will conceive the plan, collect information and carry out various specialized jobs, such as sabotage, industrial espionage or the liquidation of designated personnel from the competition, through any method we deem necessary. Of course, no plan usually turns out as well as initially conceived, so expect anything and trust that the team will be able to adapt to unprecedented situations. “Having worked on heist games in the past that channel classic bank robbery themes, we wanted to take Den of Wolves in a new direction that would allow us to elevate what a heist can be,” Ulf Andersson tells us.
Balance between action and stealth
Between shaping an exciting narrative and creating a very attractive backdrop, 10 Chambers does not forget its multiplayer roots. In 'Den of Wolves' we will find that the experience has been designed for teams of up to four players, who will face different challenges, from fighting security forces to carrying out kidnappings or executing biological hacking plans. However, Andersson promises us that the experience will allow a broader range of actions. “Really, the science fiction theme allows us to try a lot of things.” In this sense, the development team works to guarantee an experience that is able to balance action and stealth, allowing greater control over the pace and confrontation events.
Promise less and deliver more
In the package that 10 Chambers promises, in addition to being a best-seller, there are some background elements that transcend the borders of the dystopian world that 'Den of Wolves' proposes. The interpellation of strong political elements in its plot, the exploration of concepts such as late capitalism or the influence of megacorporations, are collected in a base so simple and currently plausible, that at the same time it is disturbing and invites us to consider the impact of politics and the power of companies, even if it is carried out from a fictitious context and without the need to necessarily support a specific vision.
Unfortunately, we will still have to wait to see more of this European blockbuster, simply because the studio is not willing to compromise the final result depending on a deadline. Among the philosophy of its managers, the policy of “Promising less and delivering more” is applied, something that will not help to relax the level of expectation that the project already raises.