Not much has been known about Project Iron since it was announced in late 2021. The game was developed as a collaboration between studio MercurySteam (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Metroid Dread) and publisher 505 Games/Digital Bros., so we had to ask the former CEO at Gamelab 2023, who just so happens to be Gaming director.
“Project Iron is the code name for the project I’m directing”, Enric Álvarez confirms to Gameactor in the interview below. “Yes, it’s in production”.
“Well, first off, let me say it’s been an incredible development for us in Spacelords, and it’s an incredible game,” when asked about the lessons learned from the previous project and the transition from science fiction to dark fantasy, he added. “It wasn’t very successful, but it was all our fault because we made it… We made every possible mistake except one. We made a great game. Now, we’ve learned from that project All the lessons learned, of course, you apply them both consciously and unconsciously.
Project Iron runs on the Mercury engine and will be “surprised”
“For example, the game we’re doing right now is a single-player game,” Alvarez recalls of Project Iron, “and it was in our nature. We tried a multiplayer adventure with space lords. Again, we did a Great game, but making a good, successful game today is more than just making a good game. You need a lot of other skills, a lot of differently abled people, and we probably underestimate that. So I guarantee this won’t be the case Happen again. We learned our lesson and now we are working on Project Iron with 505. We kept the IP so it will stay with us. I think we will surprise you with this game.
“Oh, you bet. Yeah, I mean, you’d be surprised”, the CEO then replied when asked about the major gameplay and narrative innovations that MercurySteam fans have become accustomed to. “I think it’s going to please people, it’s going to surprise people, it’s going to shock people. Of course, it’s going to be a full-fledged MercurySteam game, so it’s going to have strong graphics, strong storytelling, strong action, and many more that I cannot reveal right now.
“We always use our own technology,” he finally affirmed rather than using Unreal Engine. “We can afford that luxury because we’ve been able to do it since day one in the studio 20 years ago. And Mercury engine still exists in full form. I mean, it’s a brilliant piece of technology. The best thing is, it’s our property, and then we develop what we need, like a tailored suit.”
Project Iron’s official name and release window are still TBD, so don’t expect until 2024-2025 at the earliest.
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Image from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2.
