14 DAY TRIAL // Free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game Neverwinter is coming to Microsoft's next-gen console, the Xbox One, sometime in 2015.
Cryptic Studios' game is based in the fictional city of Neverwinter, from the Forgotten Realms universe, and uses a modified edition of the Dungons & Dragons 4th Edition rule set, including healing powers and action points.
One of the most interesting aspects of the game is the Foundry, a feature that allows players to create their own custom stories and adventures, complete with loot and deadly dungeons, greatly expanding the breadth of content available for the game's audience.
The Dungeons & Dragons-based RPG will debut on the Xbox One in China this fall, followed by a worldwide launch somewhere in the first half of 2015.
Neverwinter Lead Producer Andy Velasquez mentions that the console version of Neverwinter will feature the same classes, maps, races and everything else available on the PC version.
"Since we launched on PC, we've added some bits to the endgame, and then we added another module which had another campaign at the endgame. So we'll probably stagger those releases [in the console version]," he adds.
The biggest change – and challenge – is moving away from the keyboard and mouse control scheme and interface in order to deliver something that works better with controllers.
So, instead of using the PC version's floating menus, the console edition will feature a sort of tray of commands, in a controller-like formation at the bottom of the screen, offering players quick access to attacks, spells and abilities, mapped to the trigger and face buttons and allowing gamers to swap to less frequently used abilities by holding LB.
"From the beginning, we always received feedback that this would be great with a controller, and we even have a bunch of PC users who, using just a 360 controller, have come up with keybind files. I basically just plugged a controller into my PC and messed around with different configurations. At this point now, I can't stand playing our game with a mouse and keyboard. I actually like playing it with a controller; it just feels better," Velasquez says.
Other platform-specific changes will also be implemented, such as the game using the player's Xbox Live friends list rather than Neverwinter's existing system. Also, there won't be any cross-play between the PC and Xbox One versions of the game, and there is no word on whether this will extend to other consoles too.
Neverwinter was also confirmed for the PlayStation 4 computer entertainment system from Sony during this year's edition of the E3 gaming trade show, but for now there is no prospective release date, nor other information on the subject.
