Frost Giant Studios, cofounded by former Blizzard real-times strategy masterminds Tim Morten and Tim Campbell, has finally unveiled the trailer for its first game, Stormgate, which enters beta on Steam next year. The trailer provides a peek at the feel of this upcoming real-time strategy throwback.
This first look was only a teaser, however, so I sat down with two key Frost Giant employees, writer Micky Neilson and assistant art director Jonathan Ryder, to dig into the game’s backstory and learn how Frost Giant plans to follow in Blizzard’s footsteps without repeating its mistakes.
Low-Fi Sci-FiThe first moments of the Stormgate trailer evoke the feel of Starcraft. It’s in the ghostly blue hue of a holographic projector, the subtle mumble of an AI assistant, and the thunderous arrival of a chunky sci-fi mech suit. Instead of going for a purely retro aesthetic, however, the trailer mashes modern, high-resolution art with the gritty, lived-in feel that defines the Starcraft franchise. This carries over to the game itself, which is built on Unreal Engine 5.
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Sign up for our Games newsletter and never miss our latest gaming tips, reviews, and features.“When it comes down to design and art, when we see something futuristic, whether it’s a vehicle or a doodad on the map, you should be able to tell what the function of that thing is by looking at it,” says Neilson.
The human technology in Stormgate is defined by bulky suits of armor, pouches, and useful-yet-imperfect holograms. Weapons shoot bullets, not lasers, and armored suits achieve flight the old-fashioned way: with a rocket pack. This captures not only the feel of early Blizzard titles but also, by extension, that studio’s inspirations, such as the tabletop war game Warhammer 40K, the Alien franchise, and 1997’s cult sci-fi movie Starship Troopers.
That’s not to say Frost Giant’s approach is stuck in the ’90s, however. Jonathan Ryder, Frost Giant’s assistant art director, says the team updates the low-fi aesthetic by guessing at the impact of more recent scientific breakthroughs.
“MIT was creating this bacteria that can create electrical charge into a battery,” says Ryder. “So, we thought about, what would 50, 60, 70 years of innovation on that look like, if we were using it for clean technology?” This speculation helps the team bend the rules of physics without losing touch with reality.
