The Knight's Path Lead Developer Exposes How AAA Video Games Turned Its Back on Gamers—and Why Indies Are Thriving!
The Western AAA gaming industry has increasingly shifted its focus away from the core audience that turned the industry into a powerhouse. Rather than prioritizing the preferences and expectations of the gamers who made the industry so massive, many companies now center their efforts on creating products that cater to narrower and less engaged demographics. This shift has led to a noticeable disconnect between large publishers and their traditional fan base.
This unfortunate trend, however, has paved the way for independent developers to flourish. Unlike their corporate counterparts, indie studios possess the agility to adapt quickly to emerging trends and gamer feedback. By prioritizing innovation, community engagement, and authenticity, these developers have successfully produced games that resonate deeply with players.
A new game on the horizon is Knight's Path! In December of 2023, Knights Path: The Tournament was released to Very Positive reviews on Steam. It is a short medieval RPG featuring challenging combat, an immersive progression system, and a nice little story. It served as an announcement, a combat concept demo, and a teaser for the forthcoming open-world RPG Knight's Path, which is currently in active development. I got a chance to have a great discussion with the lead developer, Honzys, on the title's future release and the state of the industry.
First, I asked what their plans were regarding the scope of the full release. While you might get the impression that Knight's Path is an arena fighting game, that’s not the case with the full release.
"Knight's Path will be a proper open-world, story-driven RPG. Of course, as a small indie team, we’re keeping the scope modest. The open world will be compact but dense, featuring one town, one village, castle ruins, forests, valleys, and other areas to explore."
Many gamers would agree it is better to have a limited number of fully fleshed-out areas than to present a gigantic, empty world. This has been a major criticism levied towards recent releases like Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and even modern Assassins Creed, which tends to rely on repetitive gameplay loops scattered across an overly large map, which can feel more like busywork than meaningful exploration. I have always believed that quality over quantity is the best way to go. The team has also made this a priority with things such as the story and weapon types.
"We plan to include three main weapon types: longsword, sword and shield, and bows. These will feature the full progression system seen in the demo, with skill levels such as Novice, Adept, Expert, and Master. Players will need to learn individual skills from different trainers to progress. In addition, we’re introducing secondary weapons like spears, halberds, and other polearms. These won’t have RPG-style progression but will still offer variety in combat."
Regarding the story, they plan to be bold and strive to create a 16-28 hour-long main campaign.
"The story will be divided into four chapters, with each chapter offering around 4–7 hours of gameplay. As in the demo, the player character begins as a nobody, slowly learning how to wield a sword and eventually becoming a knight. However, the progression will be much more realistic than in the demo, where the peasant hilariously transformed into a champion in just four days."
This is a far cry from many games that are released nowadays. In just 2024 alone at a glance, the AA release Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn provided an average of 8 hours of content, Princess Peach: Showtime at 10 hours, Silent Hill 2 Remake at 15, and even the Game Of The Year winner Astrobot holds an average playtime of 10 hours.
These shorter runtimes reflect a broader industry trend of focusing on compact, streamlined experiences. While this approach may appeal to players with limited time or those seeking tightly curated narratives, it often leaves others craving the depth and replayability that used to be a hallmark of premium gaming experiences. The reduced scope and length can feel like a step back, especially in an era where technology and resources should theoretically enable richer, more expansive worlds to explore.
A major issue within the industry is the way we are treated by the people who only have jobs because of our favorite hobby. In 2024 the gaming industry is forecasted to generate $208.7 BILLION dollars, up from 5.4% in 2023. Compare that to Hollywood, which is a measly $12.3 billion. The gaming industry employs 727,000 individuals in the United States alone. So you'd think these people would have a little bit of respect for gamers, though so many who are vocal on social media show nothing but contempt for us. Perhaps this is because of fear if they do not show loyalty to a cause or "fit in" that they may not secure funding or genuinely believe in what they preach, but the team behind Knight's Path isn't worried about that.
"We are independent developers and we plan to stay independent so we can stay true to our vision. Knight's Path is a game made by gamers for gamers. We’re prioritizing fun gameplay above all, and we firmly believe this is exactly what gamers want."
Speaking on games being made for gamers, I voiced how I loved hearing how the team was focused on making a game FOR gamers and used Dragon Age: The Veilguard as a comparison. The director of that title, Corrine Busche, admitted they were "quite proud of the critical reception.”
I also raised some questions about their big plans moving forward. In the demo, one of the major criticisms I had was with the voice acting. I had guessed it was done via AI, which was confirmed.
"You guessed correctly– the voice acting in the demo was done by AI, and it was probably the loudest critique we received and we totally understand why! Back then, we didn’t have much of a choice, but for the full game, we don’t plan to use any AI voices. Luckily, after the demo release, many voice actors reached out to us, volunteering to lend their voices to the full game. We absolutely plan to answer their call and give them that opportunity."
I think AI can be a useful tool, especially for developers starting out who can't commit a lot of money to voice acting or just want to see a version of the product that's closer to what they envision the full release to be, but going from that to real voice actors will bump the experience to the next level.
I myself played the demo in its entirety and thoroughly enjoyed my time with it! I thought the game was reminiscent of Gothic 2 and even The Witcher. I was pleasantly surprised when I didn't encounter any bugs or glitches and while some areas have not been fleshed out like the voice acting, I would recommend putting the game on your wishlist to see what this team does in the future when they finally deliver their updated demo and the eventual full release of the game.
Wishlist The Knight’s Path & Download The Demo!
NEXT: 'The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt' Steam Forum Bans Discussion On Woke, Anti-Woke, and Real-World Politics
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