Voltron: Cubes of Olkarion is Gbanga ’s winning game submission for the 2018 Universal GameDev Challenge. The game is a fast-paced, innovative blend of real-time strategy and puzzler for two players taking place in the universe of Netflix original series DreamWorks Voltron Legendary Defender. In May, six finalists were chosen from over 500 game concept entries and the winning game was announced during the Unite Los Angeles Conference.

The game was released on 29 August 2019 on Steam Early Access. The following post describes how the game came to be.

Concept

In Voltron: Cubes of Olkarion, two players are pitted against each other in action-packed real-time battles. Each player must defend their base, building towering structures of cubes that can block incoming attacks and launch a deadly onslaught on their own. While each cube has its own ability, such as firing a powerful freeze beam or an explosive fireball, it’s the emergent interactions between them that creates a fun and engaging experience. There’s no winning strategy – players must constantly adapt their plans and surprise their enemy to stay on top of the game.

The vertical slice for Voltron: Cubes of Olkarion encompasses a fleshed-out skirmish mode with a total of 8 unique cubes that can be enjoyed in local multiplayer or against the powerful AI across 3 distinct battlefields.

Development and release

Gbanga applied an iterative and agile development process to create the vertical slice. After the creation of pen and paper sketches, the artists translated those to 3-dimensional objects in the virtual space. The development team then implemented gameplay and visual effects in the Unity game engine.

A playable and fun vertical slice of Voltron: Cubes of Olkarion was playable for all visitors at the Unite Los Angeles conference. Gbanga is currently working closely with Universal to plan the next steps in the development of the game.

The contest «Universal GameDev Challenge»

In March 2018, game engine company Unity and media company NBCUniversal teamed up to announce the Universal GameDev Challenge. The Universal GameDev Challenge is sponsored by Microsoft and Intel and has the goal to first create a concept and then a playable vertical slice, a prototype for a game based on one of five Universal’s iconic worlds: Back to the Future, Jaws, Battlestar Galactica, Voltron Legendary Defender or Turok.

In March 2018, Gbanga started to work on the design document for a game based on the Voltron franchise. The whole team was very excited when it is announced that out of over 500 entries, Gbanga’s Voltron game was among the six finalists.

In the second phase, the six teams then had three months to develop a vertical slice based on their concepts. During this time, Universal invited two people from each team to LA for an exclusive mentorship summit for talks and workshops with industry veterans.

Voltron: Cubes of Olkarion, the grand prize winner of the Universal GameDev Challenge was announced during Unite LA on October 23, 2018.