14 DAY TRIAL // Journey has been finally released on the PlayStation Network and the developers who have worked on the game at thatgamecompany says that they have no plans to deliver downloadable content for the game and that the entire concept makes a concept impossible.
Jenova Chen, who is the creative director and one of the co-founders at thatgamecompany, told VG247 that, “Our focus is to make a strong, immersive experience that’s entertaining and relevant to people – and to deliver it in the most efficient time-saving way.
“I mean, we don’t want to keep the player for two hours longer by adding a bunch of grinding, which does not produce anything.”
The developer talked about the free-to-play business model, saying that it can engage players in the long term because it asks them to put time in but requires no money to be spent, while those who deliver AAA releases need to make sure that they are efficient in telling a story and creating an experience.
Chen added, “We spent three years on this thing. If we’d spent one year, then sure, if we want to add something, we could do it with a patch. But after three years of pick and choose, I think it’s pretty perfect. Adding things is very difficult.”
Previous titles released by thatgamecompany include Flower and fl0w and each of them has tried to challenge the boundaries of video games as a medium and the team is eager to do the same with their next project.
Chen says that creating a sequel to Journey would be challenging, but it would break no new ground so the team is not taking that possibly into account.
The developers of Bastion, another game that impressed with both style and mechanics, have refused to talk about creating a sequel for it and have declared the initial experience to be complete.