Stoic founder John Watson is finally starting to talk about The Banner Saga 3, the third and final planned game in the current Banner Saga trilogy, but it sounds like Stoic has some big choices to make before development can begin. And fans might be surprised to hear some of the options being weighed by Watson & Co., given the popularity of The Banner Saga and TBS2.
Millions of gamers have tried The Banner Saga, and/or The Banner Saga 2, over the last four years. In fact, a new GamesIndustry.biz interview with Watson confirms more than 1.6 million Xbox One owners downloaded the Banner Saga sequel when it was added to the Xbox Games with Gold program last summer. But financing remains one of the biggest obstacles between Stoic, an indie studio with six full-time employees, and creation of the final entry in the Banner Saga trilogy. As we all know, development isn't cheap and fulfilling rewards for the game's Kickstarter campaign meant Stoic couldn't pocket as much of the profit as they'd hoped.
Watson knows his company has options, having successfully Kickstarted the first game, and the success of previous Banner Saga titles demonstrates outside investors are willing to work with the studio. But Watson wants to be sure that whatever deal Stoic agrees to ultimately puts the studio on a path to more financial stability.
“Is taking investor money gonna make the game sell? Is it gonna make it $1 million more profitable? No. It'll make it a little bit better,” Watson said. “Maybe we increase the quality level a little bit… But beyond that it won't really affect the profitability. It would be a vanity thing. We just want to make it better."
For more on the situation, including early discussion about the potential cost to develop The Banner Saga 3, take a few minutes to read GamesIndustry’s full interview with Watson. Then head down to the comments section and let us know what you’re hoping to see in the next addition to The Banner Saga trilogy whenever TBS3 finally heads to PC and consoles.
The Banner Saga and The Banner Saga 2 are currently available for a variety of platforms.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes and follow Scott on Twitter for more Banner Saga news throughout 2017 and as long as Stoic supports the Banner Saga trilogy in the years ahead.
