Battle Shapers interview: “we’re developing with a premium game mindset”

It’s clear that Battle Shapers is aiming to shake things up in a crowded genre. After multiple hands-on, I’ve been impressed by the team at Metric Empire in how the game being fun to actually play is front and centre of the title. But while it’s a busy genre, it’s also a dangerous one, with titles falling by the wayside that would seemingly otherwise thrive. It’s a tricky business, that’s for sure.

So I was excited to sit down with Nicholas Routhier, Co-Founder & Technical Director, and Pier-Luc Papineau, Co-Founder & Design Director from the team behind Battle Shapers, to ask about the response to the previews, influences, potential for more content (and even voice acting) in the future, and to also find out whether we might get any console news, or if the game will play nicely on Steam Deck. Let’s get into it, then.

Mick: Did you expect the overwhelmingly positive response to the preview build?

We certainly were happily surprised to see such positive articles about our game. The team is very passionate about the project and is putting a lot of effort into making Battle Shapers the best possible FPS roguelite experience for all players out there. Witnessing the fantastic feedback and observing people’s eagerness to play the game is incredibly gratifying and energizing.

Pier-Luc Papineau (left), and Nicholas Routhier (right)

What were your key influences?

Our driving vision behind Battle Shapers has been to create a vibrant and fast-paced FPS Roguelite where players have increased choices and influence throughout their runs. In pursuit of this aim, we sought inspiration from a diverse array of games that naturally aligned with this objective, as well as iconic titles within the genre.

Specifically, we hold a strong admiration for recent Roguelites like Dead Cells and Hades, and we deeply appreciate how these games have pushed the roguelite meta-progression experience further while making it even more accessible to everyone. Doom (2016) also played a pivotal role in inspiring us to design a combat experience that encourages players to dive head first into battle and reward their willingness to take risks.

The Megaman X series has also greatly influenced our game’s development. This influence is evident not only in our creation of vibrant and distinctive bosses with their own power cores to acquire, but also in how we let the players choose which of the bosses to take on in their runs.

Are there intentions to add voice acting down the line?

While there are currently no plans to incorporate voice acting, we remain open to exploring various enhancements for the game in the future. Our focus right now is on delivering the best possible gaming experience, and we’ll carefully consider all options to enhance the game further down the line.

Can we expect more biomes and bosses to be added?

Yes, absolutely. We will soon be releasing a roadmap outlining the major updates we have in store for the Early Access phase and we think that players will be happy with its content. However, we do not want to say too much and are keeping some surprises to be revealed later.

We also can’t wait to hear what the community will have to say about the game and what kind of content they will get excited about.

Could we see different modes added to the main game later?

As we continue to develop Battle Shapers during its Early Access phase, our principal goal will be to expand upon the game’s existing features and content to provide players with a richer, even more engaging and diverse PVE experience. As is usually expected from roguelite games, we want to ensure that players who seek a more intense and challenging gameplay experience have a run for their money. In this sense, our intentions are to introduce new difficulty modes in a future update. These modes will be designed for those who are truly looking to test their skills and immerse themselves in a real challenge.

Customisable of Ada is a big part of the game, but has balancing been an issue?

Providing a well-balanced experience is a big priority for us, but we also want players’ choices to matter and be impactful on their runs. Letting the players combine the powers of their cores to form very different playstyles sure does present some challenges when it comes to balancing combat systems and level design, but it’s something our designers have been very attentive to and we’re confident the game experience will feel just right.

Are there any plans for a console release?

We are currently focusing all our efforts on the Early Access PC version to make Battle Shapers the best game it can be, but we would love to bring the game to as many players as possible in the future.

Will Battle Shapers be compatible with Steam Deck?

Battle Shapers fully support many types of controllers, including the Steam Deck. The game already runs on Steam deck and is playable, however we still have optimization work to do to deliver a smooth Steam Deck experience.

With all the formats and variations of hardware these days, how has it impacted development? Do you have to consider peripherals too, like the DualSense?

With all the various hardware that exists out there it can be challenging to correctly support everything. However, Battle Shapers currently supports Xbox and PlayStation controllers and we are currently working on supporting more controllers. It is a blast to play the game with a controller.

It’s also important for us to support a wide variety of screen resolutions, we do support wide and Ultra wide screen resolutions. We are also testing the game on a variety of PC setups, with various CPU and GPU brands to make sure that the game will work smoothly for all various configurations out there.

What are your thoughts on the games as a service genre currently? Is it stressful to be in that space right now?

While games as a service surely have their charms with all the updates and ongoing excitement they bring, we’re developing Battle Shapers with a premium game mindset, which we believe offers clear wins for players. It’s important to us that players get the whole package without needing to stress about paying extras that can sometimes become conditional to their enjoyment of the game. And you know what’s great? That approach is less stressful for us as well – our main goal is to ensure you have a complete and enjoyable experience without the added hassle of microtransactions. By not spending time on those, we’re able to invest more time in enhancing the overall quality of your gaming experience. It’s a win-win!

Battle Shapers is coming to PC on October 3rd. Thanks to the team for their time.