Nobody Wants to Diea cyberpunk game created by Critical Hit Games from Wrocław on Unreal Engine 5, is out today. To celebrate, we decided to ask Grzegorz Golen, the studio’s CEO, a few quick questions.
Filip Chrzuszcz: Why cyberpunk? If you’re writing a noir crime story, why can’t Nobody Wants to Die take place in, say, the 1950s?
Grzegorz Goleń: Because the mix of the 30s and cyberpunk/sci-fi sounds incredibly intriguing. This type of setting is probably closest to dieselpunk, and it is not very well represented in games. We asked ourselves how people in 1930 would imagine the future and explored every element, from interpersonal relationships to everyday objects. That’s how the whole world of Nobody Wants to Die was created.
Favorite Cyberpunk Works, and If You’ve Read Them, You Can Take a Side in the Debate: Gibson or Stephenson?
Definitely Gibson’s “Neuromancer” or Morgan’s “Altered Carbon”. When it comes to film inspirations, the most important was undoubtedly “Blade Runner”. The whole film noir genre from the 30s-50s was a treasure trove of information for us. Also James Karra (the protagonist – editor’s note) is a fan of these ancient works from his perspective and this is strongly indicated in the game.
How do you assess the current situation in the industry and what is it like to make games at a time when releasing an “average” title may not be enough?
There’s no hiding the fact that the gaming market is currently in a terrible state. I have a very positive attitude towards the coming years. We can already see a glimmer of light and a harbinger of an improvement in the gamedev situation in the near future. If Nobody Wants to Die is warmly received by players, it will be a huge success for us. If the game also earns money, that’s great, because it will allow us to survive the difficult period and calmly focus on pre-production of the next game.
Nobody Wants to Die is premiering today. The game is available on PC (from 5:00 p.m.), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Let us remind you that the production has a Polish cinematic localization with Polish subtitles.
