GamesRPGHere’s how a secluded Polish studio was called upon for The Witcher Remake, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Divinity 2When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesRPGHere’s how a secluded Polish studio was called upon for The Witcher Remake, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Divinity 2When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: IMGN.PRO)
Rokosz calls it serendipity, and there’s a certain amount of romance in the telling of his story. Yet he’s clear-eyed about the task ahead. “First and foremost, we need an honest, down-to-earth analysis of which parts are simply bad, outdated, or unnecessarily convoluted and need to be remade,” he says, “While at the same time highlighting the parts that are great, should be retained, or are direct key pillars that can’t be discarded.” After that, Fool’s Theory can begin the redesign process: “This involves removing the bad parts and rearranging the good ones to create something that is both satisfying and still resonates with the feel of the original.”
Serendipity
(Image credit: Just A Game GmbH)
“This served as my first real lesson in project scope,” Rokosz says. Some of that team clung onto the dream of making an old-school RPG, however. And so, after careers made in Warsaw at the likes of CDPR and Flying Wild Hog, they reunited in Rokosz’s hometown of Bielsko-Biała to found a new studio, with friends gathered along the way. “We were tired of the big-city life and the ridiculous hours spent in traffic commuting,” Rokosz says. The pace of life in Bielsko-Biała couldn’t be more different: nestled among the forested Beskid mountains of southern Poland, the city’s population is an order of magnitude smaller than that of the capital.
Subscribe(Image credit: Future PLC)This feature originally appeared in Edge Magazine. For more fantastic in-depth interviews, features, reviews, and more delivered straight to your door or device,subscribe to Edge.
Subscribe
(Image credit: Future PLC)This feature originally appeared in Edge Magazine. For more fantastic in-depth interviews, features, reviews, and more delivered straight to your door or device,subscribe to Edge.
(Image credit: Future PLC)
This feature originally appeared in Edge Magazine. For more fantastic in-depth interviews, features, reviews, and more delivered straight to your door or device,subscribe to Edge.
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Seven also caught the attention of 11 Bit Studios, the Polish powerhouse behind This War Of Mine, Frostpunk, and recent Edge cover game The Alters. The success of its harrowing survival management sims allowed 11 Bit to invest in local talent as a publisher, and led to the signing of Fool’s Theory’s next game, The Thaumaturge, a post-Disco Elysium RPG set in a supernaturally tinged, turn-of-the-century version of the very town these developers were escaping: Warsaw. Since then, 11 Bit has doubled down on its investment, acquiring 40 percent of Fool’s Theory’s shares and helping the studio “transition from our wild indie days and workflows into a properly managed company”. This stability has enabled Fool’s Theory to grow to 80 employees while retaining its creative freedom.
“The Thaumaturge is Seven’s older, wiser and more articulate sibling,” Rokosz says. “The narrative is much more mature. The characters are better developed.” Where Seven pulled from the medieval sci-fi of authors like Mark Lawrence and Scott Lynch, The Thaumaturge is rooted in real events in Polish history, and the literature of the early 20th century. Design director Karolina Kuzia-Rokosz and her team conducted extensive research, which in turn informed the game’s world of Russian soldiers, Jewish merchants, Polish townspeople, and unearthly demons tied to human hosts.
Kuzia-Rokosz identifies overlapping themes with Seven. “We enjoy witty humour and cheeky ruffians,” she says. “Our stories often revolve around morally ambiguous choices, internal conflict and the essence of what makes us human.” It’s perhaps telling that every Fool’s Theory game features a party, the perfect way of exploring the human capacity for both wit and conflict in one place. “Nothing is ever simply black or white,” Kuzia-Rokosz says. “The imperfections of human characters are what drive us to tell complex stories, allowing players to relate to them in one way or another, and to hope that each story could be a lesson of sorts.” And indeed, parties aside, The Thaumaturge is a darker tale than Seven, and one that, despite presenting you with a fixed protagonist in Wiktor Szulski, leaves room to define his character with your own decisions.
To be able to make the game of your dreams, with childhood friends, in your hometown? Who wouldn’t agree?Jakub Rokosz
To be able to make the game of your dreams, with childhood friends, in your hometown? Who wouldn’t agree?
“There’s nothing inherently wrong with generic dragons, but we always strive to create content that reflects and builds upon our own experiences and the environment we live in,” Rokosz says. Naturally, then, they turned to the superstitions of their homeland, and to its tumultuous history, “because those elements ultimately shaped us into the developers we are today.” It helps, we imagine, that Fool’s Theory works in close proximity to Poland’s past, working out of the same 19th-century building in Bielsko Biała’s centre where the studio started out. “The only change,” Rokosz says, “is that we moved down one level from the attic where we began.”
(Image credit: IMGN.PRO)
RelatedFool’s Theory is currently developing a remake of The Witcher, but there’s still plenty more to come out of that universe. Check out all theupcoming CDPR gamesto learn more.
Related
Fool’s Theory is currently developing a remake of The Witcher, but there’s still plenty more to come out of that universe. Check out all theupcoming CDPR gamesto learn more.
Fool’s Theory is currently developing a remake of The Witcher, but there’s still plenty more to come out of that universe. Check out all theupcoming CDPR gamesto learn more.
Many of the friends that Fool’s Theory’s founders met working on Afterfall, or crossed paths with during the years afterwards, now run their own companies – or are responsible for the hit productions for which the Polish industry has become known. “I guess we learned quite early in our careers that with sufficient preparation and self-confidence, great things are achievable.” Rokosz points to Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov, along with Shigeru Miyamoto and John Carmack – pioneers who had no established roads to follow. “In that regard, we’re just toddlers standing on the shoulders of these giants,” he says. “When you consider what our predecessors achieved, you realise that the problem isn’t ambition, it’s a lack of proper preparation.”
Now, as Fool’s Theory wraps up work on The Thaumaturge and turns its attention to The Witcher Remake, preparation is front of mind. CDPR’s Badowski announced the studio’s involvement in 2022, with considerable fanfare and not a little pressure: “They know the source material well, they know how much gamers have been looking forward to seeing the remake happen, and they know how to make incredible and ambitious games. And although it will take some time before we’re ready to share more about and from the game, I know it’ll be worth the wait.” Rokosz sees the project as another step in his studio’s growth. “Naturally,” he says, “we need to scale up, in terms of team size and technological capabilities.”
This feature originally appeared inEdge magazine. For more fantastic features, you cansubscribe to Edge right hereorpick up a single issue today.
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1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5
Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
1
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2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2
Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3
Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”