Can you tell us more about how Omega Strikers got started?We left Riot not really knowing what genre of game we wanted to make, but we knew we wanted to build a game with specific attributes. We wanted it to feel approachable and intuitive, have a meaningful depth of mastery, and have unique gameplay.
We started by looking to merge the attributes of games that we thought met those goals and ended up with something that felt a little like a combination of League of Legends and Smash Bros. It was a little like the old Dota mod Pudge Wars, and it was a lot of fun, but it felt like it could use something else to spice it up.
We experimented with different mechanics to try and get that spice but quickly landed on the ball/puck. It added a feeling of approachability to the game while also adding another layer of depth, having players need to balance their focus between fighting other players and knocking the ball around to score.
We spent a few months prototyping the “ball mode” and began testing it with college students from across the country—we found they had resoundingly positive feedback and got more and more excited to make that game a reality.
How did your Riot experience influence your initial vision?
We learned a ton during our time at Riot–it’s the best place to work to understand modern live-service game development. Riot has an unrelenting focus on the player experience and an earnest belief that if you do right by your players, they will do right by you.
We got experience managing live gameplay, developing cosmetic content, building prototypes in R&D, and publishing games in a player-focused way. To be honest, we wanted to take most of these principles and apply them to what we were doing.
We want to develop games that have the same level of player impact as those at Riot – where decades from now, players will fondly remember the time they spent, the skills they gained, and the friends they made playing our games, just like we do with League of Legends. That’s been at the core of the studio, and Omega Strikers, since day one.
Source: Unreal Engine Blog