Microsoft Studios' creative director Adam Isgreen revealed a catalog of fresh details for the next Killer Instinct season in an interview on the game's official Twitch channel.
The lengthy interview was conducted by CrazyLCD and covered a broad range of topics including returning characters, new features and much more.
Adam Isgreen seemed genuinely hyped for Season 3 throughout the interview, saying that "lots of cool things" are coming when the new season launches in March 2016. He praised Iron Galaxy Studios for their work on Killer Instinct, who took over from Double Helix following their buyout from Amazon.
..."Season 2 was a lot of work, when we discovered we'd lost Double Helix as our developer - I don't know a lot of games that make the transition from one developer to another and do it in such a great way. [To find] another team that picks up and runs with the game, and, in my opinion, just makes it better and more refined and more balanced and more focused and interesting and unique. That's really hard. [...] Iron Galaxy did such an amazing job of picking it up and grabbing it."...
Here are some of the key points raised in the interview:
- Other roster members could get Shadow Jago-like alternate characters via a future Killer Instinct tournament community funds.
- Season 3's soundtrack will be more "diverse" than previous seasons, penned by Celldweller and Atlus Plug.
- Killer Instinct 2's Kim Wu is confirmed, and her move set will stay true to her roots but deliver something new as well.
- Killer Instinct 2's Tusk is also confirmed.
- Dojo training mode will be expanded to further improve accessibility.
- Adam Isgreen was coy about a return for Eyedol and Gargos, asking fans to "wait and see."
- Killer Instinct for Windows 10 will be locked at 60 frames per second, with "insane" resolution possibilities.
- The whole roster for Season 3 is locked in, including the next guest character - who is "very cool."
- Iron Galaxy are "bending over backwards" to ensure the next guest character feels true to who they are, as seen with Battletoads' Rash.
- Season 3 will introduce new systems and engine work, meaning that existing characters have been reworked in varying degrees to accommodate.
- Future "beta" characters like Rash are unlikely, given that Season 3 characters need elements of the new engine.
- Aganos and Glacius received some "cool" tweaks following fan feedback.
- Two characters have been fundamentally changed regarding how they deal damage and build meters, no word on which.
- UI will be further updated, but not to the same extent as it was between Season 1 and 2.
- Retro stages are possible, perhaps as part of the tournament community fund - but their development is expensive.
- Rash's costumes are "so cool."
- The studio has discussed adding more costumes for existing characters, but they were unsure whether the community would react negatively to further paid DLC.
- On the topic of Ultimate finishing moves for characters beyond Shadow Jago, Isgreen says, "stay tuned."
- Cross-play between Xbox One and Windows 10 is already finished.
- Ensuring multiplayer remains stable across platforms is the team's number 1 priority.
- Killer Instinct for Windows 10 will launch at the same time as Season 3 for the Xbox One.
- Your unlocks and DLC will carry across versions, but Adam Isgreen was unsure if that would include Killer Instinct's classic games.
- Season 3 will launch with more than two characters.
- Season 3 might feature a "vampire" character and other pop-culture tropes.
Adam Isgreen admitted that Killer Instinct doesn't boast the same following as some other fighters, but praised the community for their continued passion and feedback.
Killer Instinct's Season 1 is currently available for free for Xbox Live Gold subscribers, with Season 3 set to launch in March 2016, coinciding with the Windows 10 version.
As far as guest characters are concerned, I think Lara Croft could give Orchid a run for her money...
Source: Killer Instinct on Twitch
