Warhorse Adapts Strategy for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 to Compete with Big Budgets of Assassin’s Creed and Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is an expansive title that stands out in the RPG landscape, especially considering it was developed on a significantly smaller budget compared to giants like Assassin’s Creed and Dragon Age. Rather than directly challenging these high-budget behemoths, Warhorse Studios chose to carve out its own unique niche.

In a recent discussion, lead designer Prokop Jirsa shared insights into how the game masterfully blends hardcore RPG mechanics with survival elements, all while keeping the systems accessible. Players will find that the game strikes a fine balance, often feeling just challenging enough to keep you engaged, leading to a satisfying sense of achievement when you master its intricacies.

“We essentially took a gamble that there’s a substantial audience looking for a game that requires their active participation,” Jirsa noted. “At the same time, we approached it cleverly; the game feels more hardcore than it truly is. We incorporate many mechanics typical of hardcore survival games, but we’ve minimized the number of tedious tasks players need to complete.”

This perception of daunting difficulty, which reveals itself as a challenging yet rewarding RPG upon closer inspection, is what differentiates Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 from titles like Assassin’s Creed and Dragon Age. While those games are enjoyable, they tend to play it safe in comparison.

From a risk-analysis standpoint, executive producer Martin Klíma emphasized the disparity in budgets, stating, “When you look at games like Assassin’s Creed or Dragon Age, their financial backing is vastly greater than ours. Competing on their terms would be a losing battle. We need to redefine the rules of engagement.”