Later this week, Thunder Lotus will be releasingSundered: Eldritch Editionfor Nintendo Switch and Xbox One as well as theMagnate of the Gong Updatefor the PC and PS4 versions ofSundered. One of the biggest additions these bring is local multiplayer. In a recent interview with DualShockers, we asked Thunder Lotus Marketing and Communications Specialist Rodrigue Duperron if there were plans to implement online multiplayer in the future.
In response, Rodrigue made it clear that Thunder Lotus does not plan on adding online multiplayer toSundered: Eldritch Edition.He focused on the fact that online multiplayer “isn’t a feature you can just shoehorn into a game.” Thunder Lotus has also not worked on a title with online multiplayer before, so trying to implement it into a game likeSunderedthat had not been designed with multiplayer in mind at the start of development would’ve been a tumultuous process.
Still, Rodrigue didn’t shoot down the idea that Thunder Lotus would never work on a multiplayer game. If Thunder Lotus does though, it would have to be at a similar level of quality to their other titles. You can check out Rodrigue’s full statement on the possibility of online multiplayer below:
“Short answer is no. Any developer who’s gone down that road will tell you - online multiplayer isn’t a feature you can just shoehorn into a game; if you haven’t designed for online from the get-go, you’re in for a world of hurt, production-wise. And the fact of the matter is, we simply don’t have online expertise under our belt at this point.
If and when we do an online game, it will confidently be at the same level of quality we try to bring to all other aspects of our productions. We’ll see what the future holds, but there are currently no plans to bring online multiplayer to Sundered.”
That being said, Rodrigue did make it clear that the development team over at Thunder Lotus is happy with the local multiplayer that has been implemented intoSundered. When DualShockers asked if it was difficult to add multiplayer to a title not originally designed with it in mind, Rodrigue revealed that initially it was a bit difficult, but that the team got behind the idea after a proof of concept and are satisfied with the result:
“It was a challenge, but a very early proof of concept told us that we were on the right track. We wanted it to be an easy jump-in/jump-out sort of experience, keep the game as swift and agile as its initial design, without adding a lot of systems and baggage. We’re happy with the result, and the team had fun getting it done.
you’re able to expect DualShockers' full interview with Thunder Lotus to go live later this week, so keep an eye out for that.Sundered: Eldritch Editionis releasing for Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on December 21. The PS4 and PC versions of Sundered will be getting all of the content included in theEldritch Editionon the same date via a hefty update calledMagnate of the Gong.
