IGE: Tell me something about Warhorse Studios, when did the company come to life, and now after the amazing Kickstarter event that was highly successful, how much has it grown over the last year(s)?
Tobias WH: We are currently around 110 people at the studio. But our road was/is long and hard. The studio was founded in 2011 by two guys who sit in a pub and had a couple of beers. The regular approach for awesome Czech ideas. Those guys, Martin Klima and Daniel Vavra wanted to create a game that is as realistic as possible, as historical accurate as possible and that tells a, in videogames so far untold, story from European history. That’s when the idea of Kingdom Come: Deliverance was born. But in the beginning we had major struggle to find an investor. Around 10 people we creating prototypes and concepts to show the vision of KCD to publisher. Unfortunately, without any luck. Then we found an investor, but he wanted proof that there is a market for this kind of game. Around 25 people started a Kickstarter campaign in January 2014. We wanted 300.000 British pounds but had 1.1mio. British pounds after 29days. We became the 3rd most successful Kickstarter Campaign in 2014. The real development of Kingdom Come: Deliverance started. In October 2014 around 70 people released the first Alpha Version and in March 2016 around 100 people released the public beta of Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Now we are on the finishing line to release the game in 2017.
IGE: How was the mood in the studio when the Kickstarter went as it did, I bet there was champagne everywhere, or a high party factor as we call it in Norway?
Tobias WH: Of course one or two bottles were opened, but we were super excited, nervous and looking forward to the end. After 2 days we already reached the magic mark which was a great relief.
IGE: What kind of background did the founders of Warhorse Studios come from?
Tobias WH: Warhorse Studios is a new founded studio and Kingdom Come: Deliverance is the first title we are working on. But you are right, the team consists of a fine mixture of veteran game developers and energetic young guns. The experts share their expertise and the young can profit from that. The team is from all over the world and we share one common goal – to create a unique and outstanding new type of RPG! Our team worked on titles like Mafia 1 & 2, Operation Flashpoint, Skyrim, Forza Horizon and more.
Indie game developers working on realistic medieval open-world RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance