Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Will Win Over Skyrim Players, Creator Believes

Ken Rolston knows quite a bit about The Elder Scrolls series, what with him being the mastermind of the last two titles in the franchise, Morrowind and Oblivion, but he believes that his upcoming Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, will attract plenty of RPG fans, including those who are now addicted to the recent The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Skyrim was released last month and, despite glitches and shoddy patches, has gotten millions of gamers entranced, with many already spending over hundred hours with the massive RPG from Bethesda.

Ken Rolston isn’t scared, however, as he talked with Industry Gamers about role playing games and the people who play them, highlighting that, while they might not think they want something different than Skyrim right now, things will change in February, when Reckoning is released.

"I suspect that they won’t know that they want something else," Rolston said about Skyrim players. "That’s always the challenge when you make something that hasn’t been made before, and usually it’s opinion leaders who will stray outside or color outside the lines and say, 'Hey! This is cool. You should be playing this.' I think that’s the way, very often, revolutionary products work and we’re intending to be revolutionary in that sense.”

While Rolston, with all his experience in the industry, is adamant that Amalur will find its audience, his colleagues at 38 Studios are definitely feeling the pressure, but he emphasizes that quality RPGs will always attract players.

"I know our game is wonderful, because I play it and actually I feel a lot more emotional concern for the younger people working here who haven’t been everywhere and done everything, who might really care about that stuff and really - this is their first game, so this is a big deal for them. From my point of view, a really good game always finds its audience, and role playing games more so than others because they have long shelf lives, because when you start playing them, you’re going to end up playing them forever unless they’re terrible," Rolston added.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is out on February 7, in North America, and February 10, in Europe.