Jason Morris had been working at Blizzard for 10 years as an art lead on games like World of Warcraft and Titan before the sci-fi MMO was cancelled. But the moment he got his hands on a VR headset he knew that was what he had to work on, even if it meant starting from scratch and doing everything slowly by founding his own company, Stonepunk Studios.
Primordian is the result of that; a VR FPS set on an alien world at the center of the universe. It’s very much a world of two halves, as one side is constantly shrouded in darkness, while the other enjoys infinite daylight. This has given rise to two distinct cultures who typically keep to their own half of the planet, but a solar eclipse is coming, inspiring those stuck on the dark side to launch an invasion. Players will be one of those invaders.
Aside from the music, Morris is doing everything himself. “I love every aspect of the process of putting games together,” he says enthusiastically. His experiences, working with engineers, designers, and producers at Blizzard have given him some insights, but there’s also been a lot of trial and error, and a great many YouTube tutorials.
The key to creating that immersive, intuitive feel is the world itself. Everything trickles down from there. “I was trying to think about the world as a whole, and one of the great things I learned from working at Blizzard was thinking about the world as a character, the biggest character.” Weapons — the main way players will interact with the game — are the most obvious example of how the world impacts the rest of the experience.
