The COVID-19 pandemic has forced major changes around the world. From healthcare professionals to service industry employees to video game developers, the way people do their jobs has been affected by drastic changes to the world at large. For Cult of the Lamb, a new game being published by Devolver Digital in 2022, this has meant major adaptations away from the process that its team was used to.
For Massive Monster design director Jay Armstrong and creative director Julian Wilton, this has meant working under what they’ve described as something like a veil of secrecy. Thanks to the current digital age, many workspaces have stayed intact in one way or another, but that hasn’t meant norms have remained. In an interview with Game ZXC about Cult of the Lamb, Armstrong and Wilton highlighted the hands-on nature of their development process under more normal circumstances and how that changed.
The Film Victoria Grant
Armstrong and Wilton said in the past that they found a collaborative approach with the video game community was the route that best fits their style. For previous games like The Adventure Pals, gauging other people’s experiences at conventions helped with understanding what worked and what didn't. When a Cult of the Lamb prototype was shown off at PAX Australia a couple of years ago, this approach is what they expected to use for the future. However, the tumultuous late months of 2019 and early 2020 would have a drastic impact on every facet of life.
While a lot of these changes can be viewed through a negative lens, one exciting announcement came from Massive Monster before the team fully revealed Cult of the Lamb. With the approval of a grant from Film Victoria, the still-secretive game gained some extra outside funding. While unsure during the application process, Wilton laughed off how accepting the government has been given the premise of Cult of the Lamb.
"Yeah. I was a bit like 'Oh, I wonder if the government wants to fund this game about, you know, Devil worship' or whatever. But they’re chill with it so here we are."
Armstrong agreed, saying they're essentially working on, "Government approved sacrifice."
Still, the time following the announcement would bring about major changes. While the grant was announced in January 2020, the next several months had major conventions cancel in-person events due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This is something the game's developers have said directly impacted them, as their traditional approach was now unavailable given the circumstances.
Working During Lockdown
Cult of the Lamb’s development team continued to round out the game into the cohesive title announced during Gamescom Opening Night Live 2021 during lockdowns. While their personal inspirations continue to be part of the game, they’ve said it has been easier to describe the game now that Cult of the Lamb has a unified approach. Hype continues to build, and Armstrong is excited to be able to openly interact with the community again.
"We’ve got this vision of what we’re going to make but we can also then listen to people as well, which is something we haven’t been able to do. And kind of take on and make sure that we’re going in a direction that we think we want to be in but that also other people are excited about."
The newfound anticipation from Cult of the Lamb’s rapidly growing community has also begun to flood Massive Monster's Discord server, something Armstrong and Wilton are both excited for. While their past games have had fans, it isn’t something they’d compare to the influx of people that have been drawn to Cult of the Lamb. With so many faces interested in the game they’re also looking forward to getting feedback from the community.
This constantly changing pace can seem like something that’s hard to keep up with, but Armstrong and Wilton have taken it in stride. Evolving from the secretive nature of lockdown to the very public event of Gamescom allowed them to start reaching core audiences and hearing back from fans. While Wilton views the target audience as people who enjoy Animal Crossing, he still wants to be able to sidestep their expectations and keep dungeon-crawling in mind as well.
"Hopefully we can kind of ease those players in to more of a dungeon crawling rogue-like type experience with the dungeon, because it might be something where they haven’t really tried too many before."
This has meant having to be dedicated to two different focuses. For Armstrong and Wilton, it makes Cult of the Lamb less of a game with two halves and more two games in one. This approach has been pursued with a very clear goal in mind: For everyone to have fun. While cute and horror can work as great juxtapositions, they say Cult of the Lamb’s end product is intended to unify; providing some common ground between real-life sims and games like Slay the Spire or Hades.
With how stressful the past couple of years have been for many people, this could be cathartic for players. Letting loose and seeing what kind of monsters players really are, as Armstrong puts it, may be what they need in the next year. With plans to support Cult of the Lamb, Armstrong and Wilton are set on continuing their inclusive style as they move forward with development and plan out their post-release roadmap for 2022 - a year already slam packed with video games.
Cult of the Lamb releases in 2022 for PC.