Interviews// Infinite Crisis

SPOnG: How long does a match last?

JS: It depends on which map you're playing. So if you're playing the tri-lane map it can be something between 35 and 45 minutes, whereas if you're playing the point capture map it can be more like 25-30 minutes. The Coast City map varies a lot as it depends on the way people approach strategy and what they are trying to do. Each map has a unique layout: Gotham Divide is three lanes, Coast City is two lanes with a massive jungle and Gotham Heights is one circular lane with point capture as its core objective.


SPOnG: How does the item upgrade system work in Infinite Crisis? All MOBAs have them, but Infinite Crisis has superheroes/villains that don't typically have any equipment unless they are Batman.

JS: Well with all MOBAs, it's not actually equipment players are acquiring and installing onto their characters. They are not actually putting weapons and clothing onto them, they are modifiers on powers and strength. So in that sense we think of them as making a slight alteration to the character's essence of where they are strong or weak based on the choices the players make. At the end of the day even though the player is immersed in the DC universe-based world of Infinite Crisis, it's about the player, right? So these modifiers are a means by which the player pursues one strategy over another.

This talk of player customisation and modification leads on to character interaction with each other. It's secondary to the actual game play itself, in the moments where there is less activity on screen, characters will have conversations with each other. These exchanges mirror the sorts of things they would say in the comic books as they are very strict within the lore of the DC universe.


SPOnG: Could you tell us about the business model of Infinite Crisis, as it's a free to play game?

JS: We're still working on what the best balance is and it's definitely based on the mechanics people are used to. They get to play a certain amount of the game for free and if they want to continue to play the game or see more content they will need to purchase items. There will be vanity based items for characters, similar to other MOBAs such as different costumes.

We are learning, but Turbine has being doing free-to-play games for quite some time. Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online were the first premium games to go free-to-play. Both games have done really well so there's a lot of good learning there, but we're also opening our eyes up to the fact that Infinite Crisis is a completely different game.

SPOnG: Thank you very much for your time!