The beginning of January saw YouTuber MarleMMO host an interview with Project Gorgon’s Sandra Powers, when she talked about her experience with design, her cancer diagnosis, and the outpouring of support for her and her husband to keep the early access title above fiscal waters. Now it’s lead dev Eric Heimberg’s turn to answer some questions about the game’s design, his personal influences, and a little short to mid-term look at the title’s future.
The vast majority of the interview saw Heimberg discuss the iteration of the game, some of his personal challenges with processing feedback correctly and finding reasons to “care” about art (he’s a programmer, so his art is much less visual), and how other games’ hits and misses in terms of design compel him to make better systems in Gorgon. He also jokes that he likes working on an MMORPG because it’s a game type that best manifests his ADHD.
Near the end of the video, Heimberg mentions how the financial boost from the playerbase helps the game forward for the next several months (a refrain echoed by Powers before him), then talks about general plans for new monetization such as providing a “starter version” of Gorgon for between $10 to $15 that can be expanded on with additional purchases that open more character slots or help newer players get up to speed and “grind down the sharp points.” Heimberg also brings up work on the Statehelm area, the game’s “massive” final capital city and the place where instanced player housing will reside; it’s at a design document phase right now but will be fleshed out if funding rolls forth.
Project Gorgon took MassivelyOP’s indie MMO of the year award at the end of 2023.
