Share.
id Software is working with Avalanche to make sure Rage 2 still feels like an id game.
By Tom Marks
Speaking to IGN at QuakeCon 2018, developer Avalanche Studios explained that they were the primary developer on Rage 2, the sequel developed in collaboration with id Software.
“We at Avalanche are making the game,” said Avalanche game Director Magnus Nedfors. He told me that id has been working closely with them on the creative level “since day one,” but that “we have written the code, we have made the art and that stuff — that part of development is made in Stockholm by Avalanche.”
“It’s a close collaboration still with the people at id, learning from them when it comes to the shooting and so on,” Nedfors said. That influence is clear, as the guns and the pace of Rage 2 feel very similar to Doom. “They’ve taught us a lot about the id-style of combat,” he explained, saying id studio director Tim Willits wanted to make sure that Rage 2’s shooting still felt like an id game.
“
They’ve taught us a lot about the id-style of combat.
Nedfors said that Bethesda and Avalanche had been in contact for years looking for a project they could work on together. Then Bethesda reached out asking if they’d be interested in making a sequel to Rage, and Nedfors recalled, “we were like ‘yeah, that would be f***ing awesome.’ I was super stoked from day one.”
“They were super good to work with in the beginning, because they didn’t come and say ‘we want this game,’” Nedfors explained. “I think it was kind of the other way around, like ‘hey, what would you do if you got the opportunity to make a sequel to Rage?’ And they kind of handed it over to us, and we could build up our ideas before they showed any of their stuff.”
Nedfors said they had the creative freedom to say “this is what we would like to do,” and that their vision “matched really well” to what id was thinking as well. Avalanche is developing the game with their own creative freedom alongside guidance from id, with Nedfors saying “it’s been a great collaboration.”
Rage 2 just revealed some new gameplay and early story details at QuakeCon, with more gameplay to come next week. id’s other game, Doom Eternal, also got a first gameplay and story details reveal.
Tom Marks is IGN’s PC Editor and pie maker. You can follow him on Twitter.