The creators of Bulletstorm, Gears of War: Judgement, and the upcoming Outriders are starting work on a brand-new franchise for the next generation. Bursting onto the scene with the Painkiller series in the early 2000s, the Polish team worked closely with Epic Games for several years, eventually being acquired by the publisher. After spending time as Epic Games Poland, the studio became independent again in 2015. After several ports of Bulletstorm in collaboration with Gearbox, the Square Enix published Outriders will be the company's first big release in almost a decade.
Development of Outriders has ballooned People Can Fly from a single game studio into one with multiple teams in several countries around the globe. Initially drawing comparisons to games like Destiny and Square Enix's own Marvel's Avengers, the team had to get out to affirm that Outriders is not that type of product. Instead of an ongoing live service, the game will be a single campaign of third-person shooting, incorporating role-playing elements and loot gathering. The title is purposefully telling a more "mature" story than the team's past work on games like Bulletstorm, with writers comparing their work to the likes of Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness.
Now, before Outriders makes its debut, People Can Fly is staffing up for its next project. This game will be made out of the team's studio in New York, and the title is being described as a "groundbreaking action-adventure title that takes PCF’s nearly two decades of development expertise in a new direction." The team is led by Studio Head David Grijns and Creative Director Roland Lesterlin, both of whom worked together during the development of Just Cause 3 at Avalanche Studios. People Can Fly stated that the work on this new game would expand its New York studio further over the next 12-18 months as well as facilitate the creation of a new startup branch in Montreal, Canada.
People Can Fly CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski stated as part of the announcement that the expansion is part of the company's ongoing plan to create a multi-project studio and a global presence for their brand. Roland Lesterlin shared that he was excited to be on the ground level of a completely original big-budget release. "It’s rare to ever get the chance to work on an original AAA game in today’s world, never mind being part of the origination process. We’re looking for brilliant and curious people to help us shape the vision of this incredible new world we’re building." The new project is aiming for a release across all platforms – including PC, console, and streaming.
It is very exciting to see a team expand even before a huge project like Outriders ships to customers. It shows confidence in the firm's work and investment in moving forward that isn't always available for independent studios releasing projects on the AAA level. The Polish development scene continues to be one of the most interesting worldwide, and one hopes that both Outriders and PCF's next project can match the lofty expectations of creativity found in its past work.
Outriders is releasing in December 2020 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia.