Two former Elder Scrolls developers have just announced The Wayward Realms, an open-world RPG in the style of their previous work. Julian LeFay and Ted Peterson announced they were forming a new studio named OnceLost Games back in 2019, though they had previously kept their first project under wraps until now.
Before this, LeFay and Peterson got their start at Bethesda Softworks back in the late '80s, where they helped create the long-running Elder Scrolls series alongside Vijay Lakshman. Julian LeFay would ultimately quit Bethesda in 1998 after briefly helping with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, joining Sega for a time, and even helping with the 2D fighter Skullgirls. Meanwhile, Ted Peterson departed from Bethesda shortly after the release of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, briefly taking a break from video games to work in animation before joining Activision and PSP port developer Savage Entertainment. Eventually, the two reunited under OnceLost Games to create a spiritual successor to Daggerfall.
PCGamer.com reports that Julian LeFay and Ted Peterson revealed their new game under the OnceLost Games development label, a “grand RPG” titled The Wayward Realms. According to a statement from the studio, The Wayward Realms is set on over 100 islands, known collectively as the Archipelago, where different factions vie for influence and power. The player will try to earn a position of prominence and change the course of history. According to the recently activated The Wayward Realms Steam page, the game's open-world is "way bigger than most other games you can think of,” featuring “big cities with hundreds or thousands of NPCs, deep, dark, dangerous forests, gigantic mountain ranges, sprawling swamps and marshlands, vast oceans, and more, brought to life through dynamic, procedural generation.”
As far as character progression goes, The Wayward Realms players won’t be tied to one particular character class but will be able to create their own through customized skills and abilities. Regardless of class, players will be able to craft their own spells, potions, and enchantments. Another interesting aspect is the game’s “virtual Game Master,” which manages the world and reacts to players’ choices and character interactions.
The Wayward Realms sounds like a promising open-world RPG with a few interesting features, such as the ability for players to basically customize their own class and procedurally generated dungeons that react to player choices. Should OnceLost Games be able to keep these promises and recapture the magic of LeFay and Peterson’s Elder Scrolls games, The Wayward Realms could become an instant classic when it finally launches.
Source: PCGamer.com, Steam