With the scars of warfare still littered all over its landscape, there are few exercises more worthwhile for a developer working on a game anchored around the defining battles of World War II than a trip to Normandy.
Throughout the development of Battalion 1944, the team behind it – the talented folk at Derby-based studio Bulkhead Interactive, who previously developed The Turing Test – have visited the north of France for inspiration. Indeed, their latest venture across the English Channel forms the basis of a brand new behind-the-scenes video that details both the development process, and exactly what the studio hopes to achieve come launch.
“Throughout development it’s been so important for us to study every element of World War II,” details Howard Philpott – Creative Producer at Bulkhead Interactive. “The main thing for us is to really understand the brutality and the visceral nature of the Second World War. We’ve been working so damn hard just to make sure we can capture the intensity of these weapons, and making that translate to a mouse and keyboard. It’s been a challenge, but I feel like we’ve really nailed it.”
The video sees the team take a look back at the personal impact working on Battalion 1944 has had on their lives, with Joe Brammer – Executive Producer and Director at Bulkhead Interactive – opening up about the positive influence the game has had on him during some difficult times in his personal life since development began.
“With Battalion 1944, I’ve found a place where I can focus on something I really love doing,” says Brammer. “Sitting down, reading the forum, and seeing the Battalion 1944 community coming together has been quite something. With the game now close to coming out, there are only good things on the horizon.”
This, however, is just the beginning. As revealed by Brammer in the video, Tuesday 9th January will see Bulkhead publish the game’s worldwide reveal trailer, building up to Battalion 1944’s release not long afterwards.
Bulkhead Interactive and Square Enix Collective can also reveal that Battalion 1944 will retail for £11.99/€14.99/$14.99. Keen-eyed observers will notice that’s actually less than the bottom tier during the game’s Kickstarter campaign. As a result, those who backed Battalion 1944 when it was just a spark in Brammer’s synapses, will be rewarded with unique-to-backers only skins and multiple cosmetic and vanity-focused loot crates.
“The market has changed so much since we first started work on Battalion 1944, and as players we felt like we wanted to see a fairer approach to pricing in-development video games,” adds Brammer. “In an effort to have a better relationship with our community, Battalion 1944’s run in Early Access will see it priced as a game that’s still in development, and one that requires a growing community to help design and refine it. We also really want to reward the existing community who have been behind us since the beginning, so with this approach we want to give something back to the game’s first loyal supporters.”
Bulkhead’s next big reveal is set for January 9th for the worldwide reveal of Battalion 1944’s latest gameplay trailer.
More game info available at the Battalion 1944 website.
