In the gaming industry, new IPs can be a big risk. There's a reason military shooters don't rear their head often, as that space is dominated by Call of Duty and Battlefield. And there's plenty of stories out there of new IPs not hitting the mark or creating tons of controversy at launch, with games like Anthem and Cyberpunk 2077 not quite meeting their lofty ambitions. While many gamers may call for new games and new IPs, it comes with a lot of inherent risks. Despite this, Polish developer People Can Fly and Square Enix's upcoming looter shooter Outriders has always carried a big stick, and it has always seemingly been as forthcoming as possible.
Indeed, the latest Outriders broadcast is just the latest in a series of informative reveals, none of which have been shorter than 20 minutes. Its Twitter account has been overflowing with content such as a demo breakdown and legendary armor reveals. As its original holiday 2020 release date loomed, it announced it was going to release on February 2. When it was then delayed from February to March, it revealed that the game would receive a demo ahead of launch. This isn't a short, time-limited jaunt into the world of Outriders that has to be restarted when the game launches, but a full-blown introduction to the world PCF has crafted.
Indeed, this demo is proof of People Can Fly's confidence in Outriders. While the logic behind its release seems to be giving players a chance to try it and hopefully like it before they commit and buy, that come with the possibility of bugs ruining the demo, of players disliking the game, of bad publicity before launch, and more.
That's not to say this will happen, but that as anything in the gaming industry can happen, such a chunky demo has all these risks and more. With People Can Fly seemingly so confident in this new IP, Game Rant asked about this confidence level when we spoke with Outriders creative director Bartek Kmita and lead game designer Piotr Nowakowski during a group interview. Kmita answered,
We are confident. If we were not confident, we probably wouldn't release the demo. We would probably fake our movies...or probably not because we are not those types of guys. Maybe we wouldn't release everything, maybe we would be hiding something. But we are confident and we are honest. We are showing we have, what kind of game we have, we are giving people the [chance] to play it. Because neither me nor Piotr are the best marketing guy who can convince everyone how this game is, it's much easier for us to give this game [demo]. Play it, because it's really really awesome and fun when you take the pad or mouse in your hands and start playing and start building your character.
We hear from people playing that they like the game, so that's the most important for us, and when it goes to a broader audience, we hope they like it too.
With the Outriders demo right around the corner, those who download and play it may just reap the benefits of this confidence and honesty. Thus far, it seems Outriders has been checking all the right boxes, but ultimately, time will tell what players think of this new IP.
Outriders is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, or Xbox Series X.