New Survival MMO in a unique setting is coming – should primarily rely on co-op, teamwork and PvE

Quite surprisingly, former BioWare developers have announced a new survival MMO for 2021: Nightingale. MeinMMO was allowed to ask the boss some questions and we can tell you more about co-op and content in the new game.

Nightingale is a new survival MMO from Improbable and Inflexion Games. The developers are mostly former employees of BioWare, the studio behind hits like Dragon Age and Mass Effect.

However, Nightingale is said to have very little from BioWare. The game is something “completely new”, with RPG elements such as characters, crafting and item stats being planned.

The special thing about the game is the setting. Nightingale is set in a 19th-century, magical, Victorian world. It mixes elements of fantasy, history and steampunk. Technically, the setting is called “Gaslight” or “Gaslamp Fantasy”.

In Nightingale you play a so-called realmwalker yourself, a magician who can wander between the worlds. Your task is to look for a new homeland for mankind, as the old one is threatened by a catastrophe.

You’ll also find a new world, but it’s full of fairies that don’t exactly welcome you. We spoke to the CEO of Inflexion Games, Aaryn Flynn, about the special features of the game.

The boss in an interview: “Players should feel connected to each other”

Nightingale’s focus is on player cooperation, crafting, and battling the world. You should build a new home for humanity together, create your own home or even cities.

Some of the deeper details on co-op are still missing, but Aaryn Flynn already told us about multiplayer:

It’s important to note that players can play Nightingale alone or in co-op. But with multiplayer, we want players to feel connected and the world to feel like there’s more to it than just your own journey.

We also want the world to feel seamlessly connected, rather than just having to invite friends to a specific server. Players can find other realmwalkers who have strayed into their worlds. And there will be ways in which they can interact and work together to further advance their own journey.

World travel is an important aspect. Flynn tells us that through certain portals you can travel to a “nearly infinite number of fairy worlds full of discovery, challenges and possibilities”.

This also allows the developers to keep surprising the players. A single map could expand to many worlds, further expanding gameplay and storytelling. But there will be more to hear about this in the future.

A world of “deep and meaningful moments”

Flynn said in a previous interview that fleshed out characters are necessary for a living world. Nightingale also builds on pulling players into the world – but not only through dialogue and relationships with NPCs:

Players need to feel a connection to the people and places around them. By creating an environment that feels authentic, you can have those deep and meaningful moments of interaction – be it through meeting an NPC, through combat, or interacting with other players.

Especially the interaction between the players will be a focus of Nightingale. Flynn emphasizes that you must work together to build cities and defend against invasions. The gameplay systems should all take this cooperation into account.

They don’t want to compare Nightingale with other games, they say, but they love survival games, online games and games that promote teamwork. So it sounds like Nightingale is a real survival MMO with a focus on PvE.

Early Access is coming in 2022

So far there is no release, but we already know that there will be an early access in advance. The developers want to test and improve here together with the community before Nightingale appears.

The boss confirmed to us that Early Access will start in 2022. So far only the PC is targeted as a platform, that’s what you want to focus on. However, there will also be controller support. You can find more survival games that will be released in 2022 in our preview:

Flynn has not yet been able to tell us how long Early Access will last. In any case, Nightingale should be constantly developed: “It’s not like we’re going to finish someone, clap our hands and then just go.”

Nightingale will be available for purchase on PC once Early Access begins. We can’t say anything about DLCs at this point. However, we also asked about the controversial NFTs – they are something that you don’t want to bring up.

Nightignale takes a new approach to the genre and combines many well-known features with its own ideas. The focus on PvE should please the survival community. Interestingly, Flynn shares my views on the future of the genre. Games should become more immersive, have more options and above all connect the players more closely with each other:

How 2021 changed the survival genre and why it’s going to be even better in 2022