The studio behind the upcoming brawlerRubber Warriors,Flashbulb Games,traces its lineage to a Microsoft studio responsible for titles likeMax: The Curse of BrotherhoodandTentacles: Enter the Mind:Press Play. But some of the studio’s most promising titles were just prototypes whenMicrosoftshuttered it in 2016.
There were three prototype games Press Play was working on when it was shut down by Microsoft. Two of those games,Trailmakersandindie successDeep Rock Galactic, have been released by successor studios, Flashbulb Games and Ghost Ship Games, respectively. The third game,Project Knoxville, may make its way into gamers’ hands courtesy of Flashbulb’s Rubberverse franchise of games, according to the franchise’s creative director.
Project Play’s Lost Prototype
Rubberverse creative director Mikkel Thorsted spoke with Game Rant recently aboutRubber Warriors’ developmentand the history of Flashbulb and Press Play, both of which he was a co-founder of. Though the game has remained dormant since Press Play’s closure, it may make a return as a Rubberverse game after a decade on the shelf.
When we at were Press Play, we had three prototypes of games that we wanted to do. One was what becameTrailmakers, one has becomeDeep Rock Galactic, and then we have our last game, which was calledProject Knoxville, a social experiment mixed withHunger Gameskind of game. One where you create alliances as you play. This was the game that we were actually about to do when we were closed down by Microsoft at Press Play. What we did in that game I think would be a really interesting place to take the Rubberverse next time, meaning more complex gameplay, longer sessions, teams, and something about social alliances that happen as you play. I think that could work really well with the humor that we have in theRubbergames.
The Rubberverse comprises the 2021 titleRubber Banditsas well as the upcomingRubber Warriors, slated for release in late 2024. Though aimed at somewhat different audiences and focusing on different core mechanics, the Rubberverse games are both ragdoll physics-based, accessible games set in stylized, destructible worlds. The games also focus heavily on comedic elements and a degree of silliness as part of their core principles. This has madeRubber Banditsa popularparty gameand setsRubber Warriors’ more mature sense of humor up to continue that trend while reinventing it.
How Project Knoxville Fits into the Rubberverse
Those differences are as important to the Rubberverse as their similarities, withRubber Bandits’retooling ofPayday-like conceptsinto casual, family-friendly gameplay leading into the slightly more bloody and crass approach seen inRubber Warriors.The latter looks to influences likeSouth Parkto channel its humor while aiming to increase the complexity of the gameplay. That, says Thorsted, feels like a natural progression toward a rubberized version ofProject Knoxville.
While a focus on short gameplay sessions and easily accessible experiences has marked theRubbergames to date,Knoxville’s Rubberverseentry would possibly evolve the franchise by focusing on longer individual gameplay sessions and more complex core mechanics, as well as potentially adding team-based and social, alliance-building gameplay. These elements would better play out over a longer game experience, whilepreserving theRubberfranchise’s sense of humor. The added depth and breadth of this potential title would show the extent to which the Rubberverse is as flexible as, well, rubber.
I think we also have some more things to say about the direction that theRubbergames are going in that you have these games that can be everything from super casual, family-friendly to something that’s a pretty hardcore gameplay experience all in this franchise. I would like that as well. This is just what I’m thinking today. I’m not sure what will happen.
Though it may not be what the thirdRubbertitle is, he’s excited by the prospect alone. He describes himself as a passion-driven developer, and chasing the game he couldn’t get off the drawing board nearly a decade ago due to circumstances he couldn’t control isthe kind of passion projectthat can really drive a development team.
