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Jeff Kaplan, the former game director of Overwatch, has officially announced his next project called, The Legend of California. It’s the first game from his new studio, Kintsugiyama.
The game is a first-person shooter set during the Gold Rush era of the American West, but instead of the real state of California, the game takes place on a fictional island version of it. Players can explore, gather resources, craft items, build structures, hunt, and fight across what the Steam page describes as “a vast untamed frontier.”
Kaplan explained on the Lex Fridman Podcast that the island is always shaped like California, with well-known landmarks like Yosemite sitting right where you’d expect them to be. But unlike a fully hand-crafted world, dozens of other points of interest are moved around depending on the map seed, making each server feel a little different from the last.
“We handcrafted the world so the shape of California is always the familiar shape of California, except it’s an island,” Kaplan said. “
The Legend of California is built around multiplayer. Players can go it alone or team up with up to three others, sharing resources, buildings, and progress. The game runs on persistent online servers, meaning the world keeps going even when you log off.
Instead of traditional character levels, the game uses a tier system with four tiers currently in place. What makes it unique is that difficulty isn’t tied to a fixed map location which Kaplan noted that an area like Mojave could be an easy starter zone on one server, but a tough endgame area on another.
On the combat side, the game promises FPS mechanics that reward accuracy and skill. Players will be hunting wildlife for food, raiding enemy camps for coins, and engaging in optional PvP against other players. The Legend of California is currently available to wishlist on Steam. Players can also sign up to request access to upcoming playtests through the game’s Steam page.
