Wayfinder has already stealth-launched its “quality-of-life 2” patch on Steam as of this past weekend, and now it’s live on the the PlayStation console too – yes, the Echoes version of the game is finally up to date on Sony’s platform after months of waiting. The patch includes everything from the lobby browser and in-game chat to a housing expansion, world scaling, and UI customizations.
Now it’s barreling on toward the 1.0 launch, coming October 21st for Steam and PlayStation 5 (with Xbox X|S and EGS to follow); Airship Syndicate says the 1.0 update will be the largest the game’s seen and includes a new Wayfinder, new open-world area, two new lost zones, six new weapons, and full mod support. Oh yeah, and the company has partnered with Critical Role to launch a supporter pack coming the same day as the launch, with four character personas from the show, a mount, plushie trinkets, housing items, and gobs more.
Ahead of the announcements today, we spoke to Airship’s A.J. LaSaracina about what to expect. Read on!
MassivelyOP: I have to say that of all the companies out there, I would never have guessed Critical Role was on deck to partner with Wayfinder. But we’re not mad about it! Why did you pick Critical Role?
Airship Syndicate’s A.J. LaSaracina: When we launched Echoes, we heard people wanting to support the development of Wayfinder. It was humbling and we obviously appreciate those people and we thought about what we could do if we did do something. We were hellbent on two things: it had to be cool and uniquely outside the Wayfinder world so it didn’t feel like people are missing out, and it had to not go back on the “one price, no MTX” promise, since we firmly believe in what we said at Echoes’ launch. In the past, we have had numerous members of Critical Role work on our titles, and during that time, we found out they were fans of ours. Obviously we were fans of theirs as we cast them in our titles, so when we dug into the “unique and cool,” we said… maybe it’s time to do something. We’re both independent companies making worlds for fans to love and explore, so it was a perfect fit, as this pack supports both of us directly.
Is there any kind of in-game lore written to explain why the skins for the Critical Role characters are in the game? Or is it just a show and we should really just relax?
It’s not just a show, it’s a great show! Haha. There isn’t any in-game lore associated with the items because of one important distinction we made when building this partnership and the in-game items. This collaboration is Wayfinder’s take on the Critical Role characters, world, and lore. Think of it this way: Grendel isn’t becoming Grog, he’s cosplaying. They are fans just like we are, and that’s why the costumes, plushies, and housing items aren’t 1:1. Critical Role was amazing to work with, and it was great that we could take some artistic liberty.
Now that the game is basically offline and single-player, how are you going to stop people from just editing their saves to cheat themselves the DLC/paid goodies? Or for that matter, anything else valuable?
Unfortunately, there really isn’t a way to stop this on PC. Internally, we talked about bringing Easy Anti-Cheat over from the live game to the offline/co-op version of the game, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t worth it. People will find a way around it regardless, and it hinders the experience of those who aren’t cheating, so we felt it was unnecessary. Obviously, on consoles, you have a much more closed system than you do on PC making this less a problem.
Can you talk about other IPs you’d love to land? Or give us a hint about which ones you’re pursuing? (Maybe a Ruined King collab with Riot?)
I can’t say too much about our plans, but we are in talks with a few others. Anyone who has Knoladge of Airship and our founder’s history can make a pretty educated guess as to what we have in store.
This MMO player (:D) was happy to see that the new QOL update includes a bunch of multiplayer perks added (and in some cases, add back into) the game, like the ability to invite players via Discord, plus chat and the lobby browser. Can multiplayer and co-op fans look forward to more additions?
We are still investigating cross-play and if that’s something we can do across all the platforms. No promises. We’ve been looking at it for a while and realize it’s important to some. The biggest thing I think players can look forward to now is that the sky will be the limit once we have full mod support in.
Is the team concerned at all about world scaling as implemented in this patch – why not a difficulty slider that players can manipulate instead?
World scaling works to address different feedback outside of general difficulty. Since some people desired it and others wanted to specifically avoid it, we wanted to make sure it wasn’t forced on anyone who didn’t want it. We already have different difficulty selections that players can change to fit their desired challenge level, but world scaling offers a few different things outside of challenge. With it on, you will never outscale an area, and as you level up, it’s harder to feel a power gain from loot since enemies are scaling up right alongside you.
One of the benefits it brings is the ability to play older areas at higher levels, including overland areas like the Highlands. This means higher-level versions of accessories and echoes, which you normally wouldn’t be able to get, will be available. It’s nice when going back to old areas for a side quest or to farm mutated materials at a much higher level and handle the extra scaling to get more meaningful loot while doing so.
I think the greatest benefit, though, is when playing with a friend who is of a vastly different level. If you are a much higher level and trying to help a low-level friend through low-level dungeons, world scaling ensures that you don’t trivialize the content for them. While you are in a low-level dungeon, you can still get useful items for yourself. It’s an option that can be turned on and off, so we expect players to adjust it based on their preferences.
We’re also glad to see the PS5 edition of the game has finally returned to players (with the Xbox and EGS launches coming in October) – what the heck took so long?!
As one can imagine: lots and lots of red tape! There is a lot that goes into being a publisher, so we had to handle all of that. We had to transfer all of the existing information, pricing, packages, and so on. When there are three companies involved, it’s going to take a while. Thankfully, PlayStation is a great partner, and shortly after entering certification, we got approved to release and get back on the Store!
I know you’re working on a post 1.0 launch patch too and that it will have modding support. You’re working through the Steam Workshop, right? How will co-op work with mods? What kind of modding are you expecting the community to tackle – new heroes? New apartments? New bosses? What’s the limit here?
We will also be introducing specific save slots so you can play a modded version of Wayfinder or non-modded. That’s important, as some people don’t want to play with mods. We are working with one of the major mod platforms, and that platform will be integrated directly into Wayfinder so you can browse, add, or delete your mods. We’ll announce that partner later with more specific information.
Although we aren’t directly providing tools to players, we aren’t putting any limits on the mods themselves. We know people will go nuts and make crazy new characters, reskin existing characters, build new areas, and more. That’s what excites us about supporting mods, and because of that, we won’t have any specific restraints on the type of Mods we’ll allow other than the obvious things the mod platform has rules and restrictions on.
Finally, the last time I chatted with the folks at Airship, you told me that the studio is no longer seeking a publisher – it’s dedicated to self-publishing and shifting the studio back into a multi-project team. That’s all still the case, right? How is the outlook right now?
We are currently full steam ahead on developing and publishing ourselves. No plans to change this! Wayfinder has been our main focus, but we also have a small team working on another project, one that is near and dear to our legacy. We are hopeful for Wayfinder’s 1.0 launch and beyond, so we believe we’ll be able to continue operating two teams for the foreseeable future.
