Liquid Swords at Four

Doesn’t time fly? This writer despises cliches, but this one is very accurate. Liquid Swords just turned four! ‘And you haven’t even announced a game!’ we hear you scream. Yes, it's true, but we’ll get to that bit.

On December 2, 2020, during the darkest days of the global pandemic, a little beacon of light was posted, announcing our arrival into the world. Who birthed these wise words in a hybrid press release/tweet (yes, tweet, this is back in the days of Twitter)? We can’t say for certain (probably Christofer, we could ask him, but that’s not the point).

Let’s begin with the obvious one. We’re a video game studio based in Stockholm, Sweden (well, Sickla, to be technically correct). We’re around 100 developers and have impressive talent and expertise to boast. We’ve worked on everything from Mad Max to Minecraft, Assassin’s Creed to Need for Speed, and Rage 2 to Red Dead Redemption 2. Our founder is Christofer Sundberg, famed as one of the founders of Avalanche Studios and the brains behind the Just Cause game series.

Since its beginning, the studio has focused on its love for games and draws inspiration from the early days of video game development. We’ve thrown away all the buzzwords and built a creativity-led studio where quality beats out crunch, and collaboration is everything.

We realize that we’ve just fed you a load of buzzwords, but they tasted good, right?

Unsurprisingly, our first game has become known on the internet as #Game1. A quick look back in time seems to reveal that this smart naming convention came from our founder – all roads lead to Christofer. #Game1 is a narrative-driven, hardboiled, AAA revenge story developed in Unreal Engine 5. We want to focus on the grit over the glamor, the forgotten rather than the famous, and the dark over the dazzling. More buzzwords, yay!

Yes, it certainly does, but sadly, we won’t tell you… just yet. Keeping the name under wraps is very important to us right now. When we’re ready to reveal more to you, we’re going to make it big. We’re going to make it special. We’re going to make it something.

We can offer you a small tidbit for now: our game is actually on its second name; the original is now relegated to project name status.

Yes! An open world is crucial to what we’re creating. What’s also vital is building a world that is alive, districts that pulse with life, streets that breathe, and places that make you want to jump back into for more.

This is a great question. In practice, it means that we want to prioritize the story experience as one of our core gameplay mechanics, which is arguably not easy in an open-world game. But we’re creating rich characters (including our protagonist), a compelling story, some pretty clever tech, and perhaps most importantly, a setting that you will want to visit, learn more about, and play in future games <insert your eyeball emoji here>.

We are making a game set in a city. We are making a game with a strong protagonist. We are making an open-world game. We are making a game that will likely feature some criminal aspects. We are making a game involving combat. We are making a game that involves driving elements. All these things are true, but our game will not be like GTA.

Yes, the big question when, WHEN, W-H-E-N?!

And it’s hard to answer without making what is often perceived as concrete promises, and what we don’t want to do is break promises. We’re not holding back because we’re behind, or we’re scared, or we’re not ready. But we’re taking our time, doing things slowly, and getting it right. We will promise that when we do reveal more, it will be worth the wait.