As a game that was released as early as 6 years ago, the birth process of Fading Light 2: The Battle of Man and Benevolence is not very peaceful. Over the past few years, it has occasionally reported negative news such as hired brand screenwriters being involved in X scandals, production team infighting and other accidents, coupled with multiple postponements to jump tickets, making people once skeptical about whether they can land safely.
Fortunately, after a period of warm-up, this masterpiece, which the Polish people had high hopes for, was finally released in early February this year. As the most expensive project after his "solo flight", the current performance of occupying the hot list on Steam should be regarded as letting the developer Techland's hanging heart let go.
Many people say that this game is the "Fading Light 2.0 version" - almost a complete reproduction of the original original appearance when it was first released. Not only is the content and design formula basically built exactly according to the framework of the previous game, but even bugs and sparse optimizations are inherited. As if it were a resurgence in 2015, many people were basking in the fun of the game while cursing the poor stability.
▲ Strange things are everywhere.jpg
But one thing that is definitely different from before is that the overwhelming advertising bombardment is far more violent than the original. Not only for Techland, which is also in charge of publishing, it is also quite rare in any "foreign game" that has appeared in China. The last game that was marketed so hard was called Cyberpunk 2077 – and now it seems that this should be the common publicity model of Polish manufacturers.
As a cultural industry that the Polish government has worked hard to promote in recent years, this method of spending money on Bo is quite familiar to everyone. And put it on Techland, a polish long-established brand, which is even more representative. After all, it used to appear only as a developer for many years, and when it suddenly announced that it was reinstating as an independent publisher and continuing this model, it can be more or less observed the attitude of some Poles in the video game industry.
▲ You can not buy, but it must brush your screen
Tough starting point
Back in the early 1990s, when Polish brand-name game provider CD PROJEKT was still selling pirated software in the streets, Techland was one of the few serious publishers in the country. Founded in 1991 by Pawe Marchewka, the company initially focused on translating and distributing foreign software, playing a key leading role in the unincorporated gaming market in Poland.
Many polish game teams born during this period were made up of young people interested in the nascent product of the game. As early as when he was a student, Marcin Iwiński, the founder of CDP, sold various games to his classmates through some personal channels. When he decided to start his own company, Techland's boss Pawe hadn't even finished high school.
Saying that it was a company, at the beginning he was like a vendor carrying a backpack between the two places. Due to the backwardness of the local computer hardware market in his hometown of Ostrów Wielkopolski, Pawe also made a special trip to Wroclaw, where the business is more developed, to sell software copies to local retailers.
▲ The earliest ways in Poland to contact games were spread through personal means
Yes, like all Polish game companies at the time, the products they sold when they first started were not very reliable. Even Pawe himself has said that no one in Poland will blame you for selling pirated copies. But this was obviously not a long-term solution, so when copyright awareness and regulations gradually became popular, Techlan, like its peers who have survived to this day, quickly accepted and adapted to the change.
Between 1992 and 1994, Techland began to launch some of its own software, but most of it was extremely rudimentary board games. The closest thing to a complete work is a game called Prawo Krwi. Players familiar with the Legend of the Unknown or Mortal Kombat will feel very familiar when they see the picture of the game. As for the gameplay, according to the level, there will be clear fighting to first-person shooting, but they are quite bad.
▲ Now it seems more like a fan game
However, the most neurotic thing about this work is the plot. It chose to use nonsense comedy to satirize the domestic social environment and various criminal phenomena in Poland at that time. With the footage made by live-action shooting, it looks particularly crazy.
Prawo Krwi is crude by any era, like a fan game. As with Polish-inspired games like Ciadel, there weren't many details and copies left behind, and now they're basically unplayable. But in the eyes of their older generation of developers and players, this game still has some commemorative significance.
In the chaotic and unregulated Polish market of the 90s, it is indeed unlikely that you will be able to build too serious projects. For a long time, Techland, like its counterparts in the country, was chasing its own gaming career in a wild-like fashion. But Pawe has always had ambitions to develop big-budget projects and bring Polish games to the global market.
After the first few years of trials, the team was no longer happy to do just toss education, puzzles, or chess software. In addition to further expanding the scope of domestic proxy software, Techland is also preparing its first official "big" project: Crime City.
▲ Obviously referenced to many cyberpunk themes
It was a game with 3D graphics technology, which was already a tough task at the time in terms of the technical level of the Polish industry. Making such a game, for Techland, was almost 10 years pre-emptive. It is not only a large project that the company has worked hard for many years, but also the beginning of their transformation from local distributors and the signing of cooperation agreements with European and American publishers. From the beginning of this game, Techland officially entered the global market stage.
Advantages of self-developed engines
In the early years, there were many games on the PC to fly aerial vehicles, and in addition to works that simulated various aircraft in the real world, fictional themes such as "The Sky Spins" or "SWAT Eagle" were also popular. "Crime City" is a game in which a high-tech cyberpunk worldview plays an undercover detective, piloting a flying machine to engage in high-tech dogfights with various criminals (as well as colleagues who do not know the truth).
It was Techland's first game to be introduced to overseas markets and was published by British company Eon Digital. Players pilot various aircraft in the first person perspective, complete missions, get rewards for buying equipment, and unlock more as their reputation in the gang increases. In addition to single-player battles, it also offers a 16-player battle mode, but according to the data, the network at that time was difficult to support smooth play.
Although it is still very young, the media evaluation of this game is still quite good, which is considered to have made Techland famous on the global game stage. Since then, they have continued to launch new games at a capacity of 2 to 5 games per year, and the genres are also relatively rich, from action and sports to strategy games. But since 2003, it seems that they have defined their product line, and almost all of the works they have launched have been concentrated in two genres - racing, and first-person action games.
In addition to the team's preferences and the focus on the production concept, the real reason for focusing on these two types is probably that they have their own engine and think it is the best way to make this type of game. Or simply that gun balls are easier to sell in Europe and the United States.
▲ High production capacity but very single type
At that time, Polish developers relied on technology licensing from European and American companies, and the luckiest ones were only like CDP, who had an improved version of the Aurora engine with the help of BioWare. But Techland believes companies should have their own development engines to be competitive in the global marketplace. In fact, everyone thinks so, the difference is that most of the other peers are buying other people's engines and modifying the shortcuts on the basis of the original; while Techland chooses to start from scratch and insists on making its own original engine: Chrome Engine.
In fact, as early as the 90s, Techland was already preparing this plan. They have been recruiting for a long time in major polish schools, and for 9 years, they have been continuously investing in R&D teams. According to the owner Pawe, the various translation, language courses and other educational programs issued by the company during this period provided him with major financial support.
Companies with their own engines like to name them with games developed at the same time, such as id works and Unreal series. After Techland completed the engine development in 2005, the first work also imitated the habit of European and American counterparts, naming the game Chrome.
▲ The engine is called a game
It is a sci-fi FPS in which players play as Bolt Logan, a bounty hunter who has been betrayed by his partner. After escaping the disaster, Logan returns to his job as a bounty hunter, where he needs to take revenge while completing the missions of the various factions and re-establishing his reputation in the field while finding clues to his former partner.
The Chrome engine is characterized by its ability to handle wide open areas and provide fine scene detail. In addition, it can achieve simple vehicles and physics, so it is suitable for making open-world games with large map structures. Although Chrome's process is linear, it allows players relative freedom to explore large maps, with multiple vehicles to drive, complete various side quests, or search for supplies for rewards.
According to the developers, part of the game was inspired by Deus Ex and Cyber Raiders 2, so you can see that there are certain RPG elements in the system. Players can collect a variety of items – from weapons and ammunition to CD players collected purely as fun , as well as custom weaponry or upgrades to gain a variety of special abilities. Today doesn't look special, and the standards of that year were still quite rich.
It turns out that developing their own engines and making high-spec "masterpieces" can better help Polish developers who were still game deserts to enter the international market. Although Chrome was very rough and lacked depth, it still received fairly good market feedback, selling nearly a million copies in the first year. In addition, the news of the game's great success has also attracted many Polish game manufacturers to sign engine licenses with Techland, which can be described as fame and fortune.
▲ Polish cowboys
If you pay attention to the Polish game industry in recent years, you will find that whether it is a commercial or independent work, their themes and performances are very "international". Or to put it another way, it is basically impossible to see any Polish national cultural characteristics, but generally more familiar elements of the Yankees.
Of course, compared with ancient civilizations such as China, Poland does not have such a deep cultural heritage, so it is conceivable that there are not many options. Even the "The Witcher" series, which is based on national treasure novels, has actually been modified to be very European and American. In particular, comparing the image difference between the original weird old man version and the 3rd generation of good father version Geralt, it can be seen that the Poles made a compromise in order to hit the European and American markets.
As for Techland's theme, it is more thoroughly chosen. If it weren't for the convenience of looking up the information now, you wouldn't have been able to see from their work that there was any connection to Poland. Whether it's the original sports racing first-person car, or "Chrome" and the prequel expansion pack "SpecForce", it is a very routine American flavor.
This was most evident in the Call of Juarez, which they launched when they signed a long-term partnership with Ubisoft. It's interesting to think of one of the most iconic Western-themed FPS series, with polish developers and French publishers.
▲ Sold by the French, made by the Poles
After completing the self-developed engine, Techland has been investing more money in optimizing it. By the time Wild West debuted in 2004, it had iterated into its fourth iteration.
The idea of the IP of "Wild West" is compatible with the external statement of producer Pawe, hoping to provide more diverse choices for the market. Because he believed that most of the FPS on the market at that time were World War II or science fiction themes, and lacked a more pure western style, he planned this project. Initially it tended to be a fast-paced, combat-focused arcade style, but as development progressed, the team added more, more serious story content to it.
The development team studied many materials related to the Western Era and hired experts in weapons, customs and equestrianism in the period as consultants. They strive to get in touch with a variety of realistic Western materials, hoping to use this genre to attract American players. But it backfired, and after the game went public in 2006, it was seen as a gesture closer to that of the film art reprocessing – and it was criticized for not having any characteristics, and the response in North America, where Ubisoft had high hopes, was mediocre.
Although Americans themselves engage in Western themes and inevitably have various stereotypes, Techland is not "their own person" after all, and it is inevitable that they will be treated differently. But interestingly, "Wild West" is selling well in the European market, and if there is obviously no xenophobic sentiment, everyone prefers this routine Western.
▲ The treatment of this game in different regions is a bit ironic
In terms of gameplay, whether it is the first generation or several sequels later, the features of the Wild West series are not many. In terms of basic gameplay, it is no different from the FPS of the same genre as "Dead Man's Hand", which is the kind of old antique gun + standard western gun interspersed with duel scenes in the process. Even the concentration mode of entering bullet time and killing multiple targets at once after aiming is actually not new - just a "death eye" with a different way of expression.
Of course, it also has the characteristics of this series of selectable characters with different performances. From the very beginning, differences in weapons, skills, and even processes have been distinguished between different player characters. In addition, several works in the series are also very careful about the portrayal of characters, and they can show a strong personality from the lines to some details when playing. For example, the original Ray would beat people while chanting the verses of the Bible during close combat, and the sequel "Wild West: Alliance of Life and Death" in which the two brothers spit on each other in the process is also interesting.
Wild West's fame in the public eye is certainly not as good as R's "Red Dead Redemption". But if you want to pick a batch of the best and most representative Western-themed games, you still can't ignore the series. Unfortunately, the series has not been commercially satisfactory, and Ubisoft as a publisher has become increasingly indifferent to it. In particular, 2011's Wild West: Narcos moved the stage to the modern era and piled up the core fun on the multiplayer PVE – although there was some positive fun, but it basically ruined the IP reputation.
▲ General evaluation: large dung
Fortunately, Techland's early experience with educational software made them understand that eggs can't all be put in one basket. Although the company has always launched many traditional games, it is not afraid to engage in some "small business". Even though they have gone international, they have not interrupted the sales of various sports games for many years.
Many of them are the products of small workshops in Poland, and even the vast majority of them have not been able to leave specific information, and the quality is so low that it is impossible to elaborate. But they can produce several games a year, and they can sell money to support the lack of profitability of Techland's big projects.
After years of mixing with European and American counterparts, in addition to learning a lot of development experience, Techland has not forgotten its identity as a publisher. They decided that the business masterpiece must "win at the starting line", no matter what the specific game is, first of all, it must create a momentum, and the early publicity must be eye-catching.
And this concept can be described as very thoroughly reflected in "Dead Island".
Trailer master
It took Techland almost 20 years to start in Poland's chaotic market of piracy to become a developer with its own engine and signature IP. However, they always lacked a work that was commercially impressive enough. Whether it's the first Chrome to be made with a self-developed engine, or the best-known "Alliance of Life and Death" in the Wild West series, it has regrettably stopped at the gate of 1 million sales achievements.
Small and medium-sized companies are counted, but for Techland, which always has the goal of becoming a global manufacturer, it is obviously not up to par.
To fill this "loophole," the company slowed down product development and focused most of its resources on the Dead Island project. In addition, this time they also raised a lot of publicity expenses, trying to make the topic of the game hot before it was released.
Most people recall Dead Island, a game from more than a decade ago, and it may be difficult to come up with specific details in their minds. It's not bad, but it's not a classic masterpiece worth remembering. Putting aside the bonus of user preferences, this is a seasonal commercial game that smashes money to achieve the same AAA standard, has a large canned map, and beats zombies in the first person perspective.
▲ Not very distinctive in so many zombie games
But its debut trailer is an undisputed classic. This time, which was heavily hired by British animation studio Axis Productions, is definitely the most critical success factor in Dead Island, and it is still an impressive symbol years later.
It was first unveiled at E3 in 2006. Techland didn't show any information about what was actually played, but instead brought a CG animation. The trailer unfolds in flashbacks, telling the story of a family who came to the story stage on vacation on the island and was besieged by zombies, and although they tried to fight back, they eventually died. Because of its excellent shooting skills, the tragic atmosphere set off in the soundtrack, and the sad fate of the "protagonist" of the story, it has been praised by all walks of life.
Some voices said that the trailer had no actual content at all, just a concept CG. The way to describe the death of a child also caused some controversy at the time. But these objections were soon completely overshadowed by a round of praise, and many people were impressed by the thing, ignoring the fact that the actual finished product could have much to do with it.
▲ As a trailer, there is even a dedicated wiki introduction page
And this reputation as one of the best trailers of all time, until the official release of "Dead Island" exactly 5 years later, people found that something was wrong. Most of the players' evaluation is that although it is not bad, there is not much loss if you do not play, and the difference with expectations is indeed a bit large.
Like I said earlier, this is a first-person action game built according to a common formula in the industry. Its combat is dominated by close-range cold weapons, and the 4 selectable characters have their own performance advantages and disadvantages, which can be upgraded with missions and monster killings to unlock new skills. On the system, this game already has a numerically driven RPG prototype, enemies will grow synchronously according to the player's ability, and there is also a little brush equipment element. Many of these elements were later inherited into The Fading Light.
Overall, Dead Island is worth trying, especially if you have a lot of fun working together. But in most cases, it's hard to find a link in this game that's too fresh and memorable for your gaming career. A few years later, the industry mentioned the game, except for the trailer, and only some developers secretly stuffed the code to maliciously mock women.
Many people bought it for the sensational and "artistic" trailer. As a result, it was found that the whole game was not a style at all, and some users who were annoyed directly shouted that this was a scam. It has to be mentioned that the game's launch optimization is very sparse, especially the console version has serious bugs such as the drop in the number of lost frames in the map. The long development cycle in exchange for this degree of completion of the air leakage makes one wonder what Techland's technology department is doing.
In the 5 years from the trailer's blockbuster to its release, Techland and publisher Deep Silver have been doing a lot of work to promote Dead Island. What a bizarre collector's edition, exclusive social platform decorations and live-action short films emerge endlessly. The hard work of advertising and the huge attention caused by the trailer made the game sell a perfect result of 5 million copies even if the actual performance was mediocre.
Regardless of the word-of-mouth reputation for Dead Island, at least Techland's high hopes for it to "make the company a million-sales club" are perfectly fulfilled.
Here's another interesting thing. In China, from time to time, you can see the media write "so-and-so national essence shocks foreigners" this kind of news, right, in fact, other countries are also interested in this set. If you search for polish news in the period after the release of Dead Island, you can find articles like "Polish bull-fighting zombie game shocks foreigners", which can also be regarded as a common human emotion.
However, it is enough for the player to be pitted once. The high expectations of "Dead Island" are only exchanged for a slightly mediocre adventure experience, so that the aura on its body is completely removed. Therefore, the series of derivative works after the first generation have been completely defeated, and the sequel has been dragging on for many years without seeing a shadow - most players have no expectations, which can be said to be an IP that has little development potential.
▲ The sequel is now on the verge of becoming the next ticket hopping joke
Western Bragging Master
In any case, even though the profit from 5 million copies sold was divided by the issuer Shenzhen Silver, Techland still made a lot of money from it. At least for the funds to keep the company running, they have nothing to worry about for a while and a half. And after people are comfortable, they begin to pursue something other than interests. For example, to do something that does not rely on gimmicks or rely on marketing, and has a good reputation.
Techland shifted its gaze back to Wild West — and when you fall, you always have to get up and try again. They revisited the style and gameplay of the series, and finally decided to put the cancelled arcade cool tour concept on the agenda again. In addition, some Yankees are not disgusted by other countries' stereotypes of the West, so this time they prefer to write a story of playing with legendary cowboys as monkeys.
Shortly after the release of Dead Island, some Ubisoft UPlay users received emails with inquiries about the Wild West series. Some of these key questions include classic old terriers from various Western entertainment productions, such as whether the bridge section is interested in robbing a train from a execution ground or hunting down fugitives in the Rocky Mountains. Obviously, these questionnaires indicate that the new works will return to the western era. In a subsequent formal interview, Techland and Ubisoft also admitted that moving the stage to modern-day Mexico was a failed attempt.
Like the first two installments in the series, they consulted extensive historical material during the development phase of the new wild west: Gunner. But this time the Poles changed their minds: If these American cowboy legends are all people and exaggerated, is it also very interesting?
▲ The ghost knows if you Yankees are bragging about it
The game tells the story of Sylars Greaves, a well-known bounty hunter in the late 19th century in the American West, who orally presents his legendary experiences to people in a tavern. As the story unfolds, the words that come out of Silas's mouth become more and more unconvincing. Because in most of this person's life, almost all the cowboys with names and surnames in the entire western period were related.
These stories span almost half of the West, reinterpreting the fate of legendary figures of the past. Although the audience thought that he must be talking nonsense, they had to admit that this guy could indeed speak the truth, attracting everyone to listen patiently. It wasn't until the story was all told that people finally understood Silas's true intentions.
That's the most interesting thing about this new game, so much so that it's been talked about for years. Gunner isn't a pure comedy. But it presents various Western stories in a vague manner. Well-known cowboys like Billy The Kid are really as powerful as legends, or they are just a swindler. The idea of whose stories came out of the mouth of whom these stories came from, and whether the one-sided words were reliable, were the core ideas of the narrative techniques of this work.
Instead of stubbornly touting these Western legends, Gunner captures the balance that oscillates between truth and legend. Through the protagonist's statement in the tavern, he is reinterpreted with a half-truth and half-false playful attitude; the level scenes in the game are rolled out step by step by the protagonist's description, and if the protagonist is halfway through the mouth and says something illogical, the audience will question it.
At this time, the most amusing came, the protagonist changed his mouth, and the cowboys in the level who were firing with the revolver suddenly turned into a group of Indians shooting arrows. Or some passages are blurred because the protagonist's memory is blurred, causing the level to play and suddenly "doesn't count", and is reverted to the beginning and started again. This combination of character narration and actual level content, combined with that new perspective on old-fashioned Western legends, makes Gunner a very interesting story experience.
▲ In addition to the bright narrative, "Gunner" is also the most fun in the Wild West series - at least it can be sure to be the most refreshing.
The basic formula of this game still follows the standard of the series, and the focus mode, cowboy duels and classic Western gunfights have not been left behind. However, compared to previous series, the pace of "Gunner" is faster and smoother. Each time you kill an enemy in the game, you will receive a score reward to gain the experience points needed to level up. It offers a fancy combo system that allows players to earn point bonuses through a variety of methods such as consecutive kills, headshots, blind shots, and more.
The gameplay has a certain technical content, but the threshold is not high, and it will soon be able to adapt and enter the state. Comic special effects and the protagonist's constant nagging of various paragraphs, with the fast-paced imitation street mechanism card design, playing is bold and cheerful, is a good work that can be experienced happily without any pressure.
"Gunner" is the most "aura" game Techland has ever made over the years, with less commercial pursuit and expansion, with a touch of indie game temperament. It's not a full-price game, and if I remember correctly, it was sold for around $40 at the time, plus the gameplay is really lighthearted and enjoyable, and it is loved by many players.
▲ It's also very good to play
With both selling and acclaimed games, Techland, which has been in existence for more than two decades, is a mature world-class game developer. It can be seen that they have slowed down the speed of product launches significantly after 2013, and the sports products that used to be of poor quality and win by volume have almost disappeared. To do it and to make it bigger began to become the main pursuit of Techland's corporate direction.
The same fight zombies, different bodies
Back in early 2012, Techland's core team was already working on the Dead Island sequel. According to the development interviews, they were not unaware of the game's shortcomings and the players' frustration with its mediocre content. Therefore, in the new work, Techland hopes to have more explicit improvements, no longer stubbornly limited to this IP.
But the publisher Shenzhen Silver has a disagreement with them, they want to continue to use the "Dead Island" trademark; the game development is best not to spend too much money, minor changes and quickly produce a sequel while it is hot. Since the two sides disagreed, Techland simply terminated the partnership with Deep Silver, leaving them the development rights to the sequel to "Dead Island" and starting a new stove. They then signed a new distribution agreement with Warner, as they agreed to have full control over the direction of development and trademark ownership.
From the original framework, "Fading Light" can be regarded as the spiritual sequel to "Dead Island", after all, both the development team and the design concept are in the same line. However, Techland hopes to have a more iconic element in the sequel, and not to be replaced by similar products on the market. This is also why although they are all first-person melee + open structure zombie-themed games, they have deliberately adopted a new title.
The development team believes that since the theme is the survival of zombies in the last days, the game should emphasize the scene of players fleeing danger. If the protagonist's movements are too clumsy and are often hindered by various scenes, it will destroy this sense of immersion in the rapid escape. Initially, the production team used hook claws to let players move between roofs or walls, but because it was troublesome to achieve seamless interaction throughout the scene, they first set aside the hook claws and chose climbing as the core action system instead.
▲ The game often tells players that it's dangerous to stay low
Techland draws heavily on EA's Edge of the Mirror's parkour design and creates an urban environment with intricate paths that vary widely from house height to location through filming of Brazilian slums and Wroclaw, where the company is located. In addition, in order to ensure that the character parkour action is restored enough, the production team also invited David Belle, the forerunner of this extreme sport, as the consultant of the game. The basic animation prototype of various parkour actions in the game is also provided by the elder brother himself.
In terms of actual performance, the action system of "Fading Light" is indeed quite good. While its unbalanced RPG values are often criticized, and the open-world design has few highlights, few people complain too much about the industry's top parkour experience when players get up.
When making Dead Island, Techland envisioned the concept of "two games in one box". In fact, it is to distinguish the game experience during the day and night. In Fading Light, most of the enemies you encounter on a daily basis don't have the player's ability to move as flexibly, and the game encourages you to actively run and leap through the buildings in this way of avoiding danger.
However, at night, in addition to the further strengthened zombie infectors, the Night Demon will appear with almost the same mobility as the player. At this time, the game is in a non-residential environment, and the player is no longer safe even if he stays in a high place, especially the night demon that is difficult to defeat in the early stage will chase after the protagonist, so that the player is always in a tense state of being hunted down.
In addition, players will find that Techland did not abandon the original hook-and-claw idea in the middle of the play. However, there are some controversial voices in this hook and claw, some people think it is very cool, some people think it is too good to use, so noisy. Personally, when the game is multiplayer, the experience of a group of Spider-Man flying around is actually quite fun, and if you don't want to use hooks and claws to insist on parkour, there will be no punishment anyway.
▲ This mobile system is one of the most acclaimed parts of the game
Although the game's publicity is not small, it is obviously not as hard as "Dead Island", and the degree of industry attention is much colder - after all, this time there is not such a powerful concept promo to escort it. But this more normal expectation allows people to look at the problems faced in the early stages of the game's release with a more objective attitude.
Gone with the Wind is the debut of the Chrome Engine 6 set, which was originally scheduled to be released in 2014. However, the team overestimated their technical prowess and soon found that they were neither able to complete the content on schedule nor launch the game on the original full platform. In the end, it could only be postponed, and the PS3 and Xbox360 versions were abandoned, in favor of the next-generation console and PC. Towards the launch date, players who had booked the physical version were told that they would have to wait a while to get the goods.
In addition to the various accidents caused by the previous release, the optimization of the early version of the game at the time of release was not satisfactory. Although most of the game content has been well received, there are also people in the community who complain about the poor operation of the console and the low support rate of PC hardware.
What's more, shortly after the release, Techland actually banned mods published by players in the name of DMCA copyright law. This kind of thing will be met with a backlash from any manufacturer, and Techland quickly relented after seeing the player's reaction, saying that "this is just a technical error, not intentional", and slipped back to the MOD in the next update. Shortly thereafter, in order to appease angry players, they also released source code development tools for mod makers, and the attitude of making up for mistakes was satisfactory.
As Techland's most expensive project, Fading Light was a huge success and one of the best-selling zombie games of all time. And its hot sales are in the kind of genre that lasts for a long time, which is also directly related to Techland's focus on long-term maintenance over the years, which has been almost no longer developing new games.
▲ The overall reputation is still very good (although it will poke the basket from time to time)
It's a bit of a coincidence that in early 2015, CDPR, which is also a major Polish manufacturer, launched "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt". And the same performance is not satisfactory at first, but after long-term maintenance has become more and more complete. Although the fame of "Fading Light" is a little worse than the former, the two games are indeed very consistent in terms of operating ideas that win the favor of players.
The most different thing to say is that as a public company, CDPs that need to take into account investors and stock prices will regard prestige as an important asset - if they can hang "Players love us" as a banner at the door of the company, they will do so. As a private company, Techland generally made a deal of its own reputation without making big mistakes, and initially did not pay much attention to whether it was supported by players. It wasn't until "Fading Light" developed over the years and sold tens of millions of copies that they finally began to have new ideas.
After a solo flight
In June 2016, Techland announced that they would be officially transforming into a global distributor and would no longer be limited to a point of agency sales in Poland, as in the past. The official announcement bluntly stated that the key to making this decision was the commercial success of "Fading Light", which allowed them to re-evaluate the value and significance of the publisher.
Let's take this sentence apart and look at it: Warner has taken too much money, or it is best to make your own game and sell it yourself.
As a regional distributor with more than two decades of history, global publishing wasn't too difficult for Techland, and they soon began contracting with a number of independent or mid-sized game makers. Of course, their biggest concern is how to get the IP they have developed in the past back into their hands.
In early 2018, players discovered that the Wild West series had been quietly removed from major digital gaming platforms. Soon after, Techland announced that the company had bought back the rights to the series from Ubisoft. Subsequently, the contracts of Deep Silver and Warner were also terminated, and the expressions of publishers of games such as "Fading Light" were successively replaced by Techland. In the end, it is a generous effort, and the means of buying back copyrights are quite vigorous.
▲ The series is back on the shelves - except that the drug lord has become a black history
After completing the transformation and IP repurchase, Techland as a whole has not changed much, and it is still relatively low-key compared to traditional listed companies. However, in recent years, Poland has promoted video games as a key cultural industry to the outside world, and vigorously promoted this ride in various countries, and Techland has not missed it.
In recent years, the Polish cultural department has given some key game masterpieces corresponding assistance to help manufacturers achieve better promotion effects in the local area. Although it is not directly funded by the government like CDPR, "Gone with the Wind 2" is obviously different from previous works in terms of publicity - at least it has worked well with the media.
However, games certainly can't just do well with publicity marketing. Although there are many technical problems and some changes in the details of the gameplay are also controversial, the actual performance of "Fading Light 2" after its release is certainly a good work. And Techland is much more experienced than it was a few years ago, at least knowing not to plot against the MOD community.
It is conceivable that if some of the character modeling replacement MODs in this work are officially blocked, it will be hilarious at that time.
▲ Don't mess with the player's .jpg
Recently, there have been some rumors that Techland may take advantage of the hot selling momentum of this game to let the company go public, but for now it is better to look at it as anecdotal. But it's safe to say that Gone with the Wind 2 is bound to be the next long-term maintenance project – and that's what they promised before it went on sale. Regardless of whether its positioning will continue to change in the future, presumably the development prospects of the Polish game company's long-established brand will still be the most stable representative of their country.