24 Entertainment Discuss the Origins of NARAKA: BLADEPOINT in All New Documentary
24 Entertainment - pioneers of the genre-changing NARAKA: BLADEPOINT - come together in a brand new documentary to reflect on where their inspirations came from, and what it’s like working in a team so connected to the action game genre.
“Why did we make a battle royale so late in the game?” Ray Kwan, Lead Producer, asks fondly. “The competition in the market were so strong. There was no hope left for us who joined in so late. We didn't think about it like that. We knew what we could get out of the basic gameplay of the battle royale, last-man-standing survival games.”
He reflects that testing was difficult at first. The team faced hurdles, but never gave up. They stripped back and simplified combat, building a rock-paper-scissors countering system into the core of the game that was designed to broaden the appeal of the game.
“We wanted to get more players to try action games with NARAKA,” reflects Wang Xuanwei (Combat Designer). “It was a must for us to simplify the controls in NARAKA. For players, left button, right button and holding to charge are the simplest controls.”
Huge fans of the action genre, 24 Entertainment is made up of a varied team that bring their own specialities to this beloved battle royale. Nie Yulin (Martial Arts Director) reflects on how much NARAKA strives to build traditional martial arts into the core of the game, while Jonny Sun (Lead Artist) discusses the desire to keep NARAKA rooted within its Ancient Chineses roots while making it accessible for a wider audience.
This has inspired everyone at 24 Entertainment to continually improve NARAKA, as Zhang Xu (Level Designer) says, “In the last year, we've almost updated the game twice a month, totaling near 30 versions, over 100 hero and weapon skins, 6 casual modes, 6 new heroes, 3 new weapons and a brand-new map - Holoroth.”
Their most recent update saw the addition of a Staff inspired by Shaolin monks who were invited by Hangzhou HQ to provide motion capture for the Staff in the game. It is this drive and attention to detail that motivates everyone at 24 Entertainment.
There are plans to bring out many more congeneric weapons and expand on previous additions within NARAKA: BLADEPOINT, with the development team planning to reveal more information soon.
“I think every member of 24 Entertainment is a passionate player of action games,” reflects Ray. It is this passion that he believes will bring, “more surprises to NARAKA in the future.”