The Forever Winter Interview – Setting, Enemies, Customization, and More

Every little bit that we’ve seen of The Forever Winter so far has made it abundantly clear that it’s not going to be your ordinary shooter. Combining slow and deliberate tactical shooting with a grim post-apocalyptic setting and hardcore survival horror mechanics, Fun Dog Studios’ upcoming co-op title is looking like a very unique experience. Prior to its recently early access launch, we had the chance to speak with The Forever Winter creative director and Fun Dog Studios CEO Miles Williams about what to expect from the horror shooter. You can read our conversation with Williams below.

“We were tired of playing games that didn’t respect our skills – games that dumbed themselves down because they thought we couldn’t handle it. We want The Forever Winter to bring us back to that time when games were pushing boundaries, building new worlds, and trying out new mechanics that felt satisfying and worth your time and money.”

Fun Dog Studios counts a number of industry veterans among its ranks, but with The Forever Winter, you’re taking the sort of experimentational approach that we see less and less in the AAA space. What was it that drove the team to developing something that feels unique and different, in spite of the risks it might potentially pose?

We were tired of playing games that didn’t respect our skills – games that dumbed themselves down because they thought we couldn’t handle it. We want The Forever Winter to bring us back to that time when games were pushing boundaries, building new worlds, and trying out new mechanics that felt satisfying and worth your time and money. In short? We wanted to say goodbye to the kid gloves.

The Forever Winter’s post-apocalyptic setting is looking like a fascinating one, especially thanks to the narrative depth and striking imagery it seems to be promising, but as a co-op experience, how much emphasis will the game place on story and storytelling?

While there’s not a large emphasis on any overarching narrative, there’s definitely a story here. We’ll use cinematics like the Europa EXO Lifecycle video to flesh out more of the storytelling that may not be immediately apparent within the game itself. And every nook and cranny of the world fleshes out the hellscape you find yourself in. There’s always a story if you look hard enough.

What we’ve seen of The Forever Winter so far suggests that the game will lean heavily on enemy variety being one of its key strengths. Is that something that players should expect? How significantly will the challenges players will face vary based on what enemies they’re coming up against?

The Forever Winter’s enemies are heavily inspired by the RTS genre: each has their own persona that makes encounters unique. The active AI only enhances this: no two encounters are quite alike. Some may take one bullet, some may take a dozen… some may not care about bullets at all.

“The Forever Winter’s enemies are heavily inspired by the RTS genre: each has their own persona that makes encounters unique.”

This is clearly a game where strategizing and working together will be key to survival. Exactly what kind of a balance will it strike between, say, combat and stealth, for instance? For players looking to approach things with a more aggressive approach, will The Forever Winter provide the tools to be able to do that?

While we never want to lock players out of a certain playstyle, The Forever Winter is not a “guns blazing” game. If you go in hot, you’ll leave dead. But it’s up to you and your squad to decide if you have the loot and strategy to make that happen.

What can you tell us about how significantly rigs and their customization mechanics will impact a player’s play style? Also, where loot and weapon customization mechanics are concerned, how heavily is The Forever Winter emphasizing build diversity and allowing players to tweak their character to suit their preferred style of play?

Build diversity and customization are major focuses of The Forever Winter. Using one “strongest build” and brute forcing your way through hordes of enemies may work in other shooters, but not this one. The game is constantly evolving and changing, and you’ll need to match it to stay alive. Enemies have their own agendas and will adapt to stop yours.