Til trods for den navnemæssige lighed med en af filmhistoriens mest diabolske skurke, er der intet skræmmende ved Harry Krueger. Tværtimod er han yderst imødekommende, da jeg en helt normal tirsdag sætter ham i stævne for at snakke om Cosmic Division, hans nye studie, som han i sidste måned offentliggjorde. Der har ellers været stille om ham, siden han i slutningen af 2023 forlod Housemarque efter næsten 15 år, hvor han startede som programmør og hurtigt steg i graderne. Han instruerede således arkadegenistregen Nex Machina og Returnal, der med sit spring til 3D brød ny grund for studiet. Og han var med til at søsætte Saros, der for få måneder siden udkom til glimrende anmeldelser.
Nu er han igen i en ny rolle som stifter og CEO for Cosmic Division, der efter planen skal skabe gameplay first spil med emotionelt ladede historier. Det lyder umiddelbart som velkendt territorium for finnen, ligesom navnet Cosmic Division leder tankerne over på den kosmiske horror, som i høj grad kendetegner netop Returnal og Saros. Det er samtidig to spil, der hører til blandt mine favoritter blandt 20'ernes udgivelser, så jeg var mere end nysgerrig efter at vide mere om det nye studie og dets første projekt. Og selvfølgelig grave lidt i arkiverne fra Housemarque-dagene.
Ketil Skotte, Gamereactor: Hvornår besluttede du dig for at stifte et nyt studie?
Harry Krueger, Cosmic Division: "I was just about 15 years at Housemarque. It was a really intense and productive and incredible 15 years, and after that I felt like I needed a bit of a change and also a break. So, I took some time off, reconnected with family and friends, travelled a bit, and considered next steps and explored possibilities. Nothing really spoke to me that much, I felt like I wanted to be in a place where I could make the type of game that I wanted to play, and I think that's when I started feeling that now I was ready for a new type of challenge. I think that's when the idea of founding Cosmic Division was born. I was fortunate enough to have so much support and inspiration from friends and colleagues that helped support me in that first step. And then we just made the decision. The studio was incorporated just over a year ago. As you know, it's been an interesting time in the industry, so it has been a rollercoaster, but I've been wanting to build on a solid foundation and this is not a sprint, this is a marathon and a long term endeavor for me."
Ketil Skotte, Gamereactor: Hvad ligger der i navnet Cosmic Division?
Harry Krueger, Cosmic Division: "So, it's probably no surprise that I'm a fan of cosmic horror and cosmic themes in general, and I was thinking about our studio as being this division or sector that explores the otherworldly. It's where all the cool, cosmic wonder is being explored and produced. It's also why the logo has the trademark tentacle and star. Our mission is to try to imbue our games with as much cosmic wonder as possible. It's our tagline as well: Embrace the beyond!"
Ketil Skotte, Gamereactor: Er der nogle gamle legekammerater fra Housemarque, som er en del af studiet?
Harry Krueger, Cosmic Division: "Well, I can mention that Henri Mustonen (lead game designer på Returnal, red.) is our design director and one of our co-founders. He's been my trusted, strong right arm on the design front from the very beginning and also a dear, old friend."
Ketil Skotte, Gamereactor: I pressemeddelelsen skriver I, at jeres kommende projekt bygger på fundamentet fra Housemarque og samtidig vil gå i nye retninger. Kan du fortælle lidt om, hvordan det kommer til udtryk?
Harry Krueger, Cosmic Division: "We don't have much to announce quite yet, it's still fairly early in development but we do have a really clear idea of what we want to create, and we are taking deliberate steps to materialize that singular vision. I don't think the apple is going to fall too far from the tree and I don't think it needs to. I firmly believe in the idea of building on our strengths, unapologetically so. But we're also exploring some fresh themes, fresh ideas just to make sure we're establishing our own unique voice with Cosmic Division. I think fans of our previous games will definitely recognize a lot of the trademark DNA: The gameplay first, depth without complexity, easy to pick up, hard to master. All of those fundamental, timeless gameplay values. But I think they might also be pleasantly surprised with a couple of the new things we're working on."
Ketil Skotte, Gamereactor: Du taler også om en "lean and mean" tilgang til udviklingen i pressemeddelelsen. Hvor mange mennesker har du planer om, Cosmic Division skal være?
Harry Krueger, Cosmic Division: "For me, lean and mean is not just a tagline, it is a central ethos of the studio and a mission statement. For now, I want to keep the studio as small as possible for as long as possible. You know, more is not always better, usually it's just more and I want to really avoid the over hiring and overfiring we're seeing right now. So, I want to build a team that is really focused, performance efficient and punches above its weight to create games that are more than the sum of their parts in many ways. In terms of raw numbers, I'd say that even with unlimited money I would not want to make a studio bigger than 50 people. I don't feel that it's necessary to have teams bigger than that to create the types of evocative single player experiences that we want to create. And for our first game, we might be able to get away with considerably less than that."
Ketil Skotte, Gamereactor: Hvad er scopet sammenlignet med for eksempel Returnal?
Harry Krueger, Cosmic Division: "It's difficult to compare, but in terms of quality Returnal has been a really strong reference for us. In terms of quality of the experience and the marriage of gameplay first sensibilities with a haunting narrative. We're hoping to accomplish that with a fairly efficient lean and mean studio."
Ketil Skotte, Gamereactor: Så vi har mest at gøre med et spil, der læner sig op ad "det nye Housemarque", post "arkade er død" snarere end tiden før?
Harry Krueger, Cosmic Division: "Umm, yeah, perhaps... I think that would be a fair assessment. I think it is onward and upwards for us. We are of course incredibly proud of what we accomplished with Returnal, because I do think that it stays true to a lot of those timeless arcade values that Nex Machina and previous games represented but it also adds an entirely new dimension with a richer, more evocative narrative and feels like a more compelling experience overall, I would say. So, that's been our strongest reference but of course all of the projects I worked on I've been incredibly proud of as well."
Ketil Skotte, Gamereactor: Lad os gå lidt tilbage i tiden og snakke om Housemarques overgang fra arkade til det "det nye Housemarque". Der var et blogindlæg fra Illari Kuittinen med titlen "arkade er død", som var meget bombastisk. Hvordan var det at gå fra at udvikle rendyrkede arkadespil til spil, der stadig har arkadesensibiliteter men også favner bredere?
Harry Krueger, Cosmic Division: "That's a good question. And speaking purely from my personal perspective... of course, there was the "arcade is dead" article, that you mentioned, which, of course, needs a little more context. I think it reflected the reality, as you said, of shipping a highly acclaimed game. Nex Machina was another award-winning title for Housemarque, but still that did not translate to sales. So, it did raise the question of making small games with medium size budgets and how sustainable that is. That was my interpretation. As an arcade fanatic and creator, I saw it as "the king is dead, long live the king". You cannot kill something that is timeless, it might just take another form. And from my personal perspective that was how I saw the transition to something bolder, bigger and more ambitious. It was keeping our feet firmly on the rock-solid foundation we had established while allowing ourselves to dream a little bigger. "
Ketil Skotte, Gamereactor: Af alle de spil du arbejdede på hos Housemarque, hvilket er din favorit?
Harry Krueger, Cosmic Division: "I mean, it's kind of like asking me to pick my favorite child (laughs). Honestly, I feel like I was so incredibly lucky at Housemarque, I feel like I won the lottery five times in a row because every single project was a dream project for me, without exaggeration. Each one of them marked a different chapter in my career and is special for different reasons. Even Outland, the first game that I worked on, that was the game that planted the seed for the bullet hell sensibilities and the aesthetic that ended up being a defining part of the studio's identity. Nex Machina, of course, was a very special project for me. That was the first game I was in the director's chair for and had creative ownership over from start to finish. Incredibly proud of what we pulled off with that game as well. It's an incredible experience from start to finish and I even got to compose a music track for the final boss of the game. But it's difficult to not highlight Returnal as the pinnacle of a lot of those creative endeavors. Because that was really... we shot for the stars and landed on a hostile, alien planet. I learned so much, I got to work alongside so many incredibly talented people and we got to create something we'll be proud of for the rest of our lives. If a had to pick one, Returnal would probably be the most defining of my career and also the game that has set the most recent foundation in the next chapter with Cosmic Division."