Overview:

'Mooncrash' was an unconventional project for Arkane studios. What began as a standard DLC follow-up to their 2016 title 'Prey' evolved into a creative experiment that was eye opening for both fans of the original as well as those of the design team. Not only did it add roguelike elements and multiple playable characters to the formula, but it abandoned a traditional linear narrative structure. In this talk, level design lead Rich Wilson dissects the unusual project to extract common themes, like what it takes to motivate a team to break form, what you can learn by dismantling your existing mechanics and how you can integrate other genres into your game to breathe life into it.