Poor TimeGate are currently best known for being the developers Gearbox pointed to when the Ridley devotees arrived with the pitchforks. But they actually have a fairly lengthy history with shooters – first with FEAR’s expansions, and then with the Section 8 series. This is their latest: a free-to-play, multiplayer third-person shooter destined for Steam Early Access.
The first thing you’ll notice about Minimum is its overtly polygonal and quite lovely art style, which is apparently where TimeGate started too.
“We’ve been on this journey of creativity and discovery as we’ve learned just how multi-faceted a world we were creating: this limitless, unbound opportunity that every member of our team contributed into,” said the team.
“We’ve only scratched the surface so far, we know this. The trick has been to unhinge ourselves by not limiting ideas to any one person, but rather crowdsourcing ideas from the entire team. Now, the best way for MINIMUM to realize its potential, we believe, is to bring you – the players, the fans – to the development table with us.”
Don’t get up – I’m afraid that was just a slightly misleading figure of speech. From the comfort of your own table, TimeGate are hoping you’ll pitch in over at their newly-opened forums.
Not only will we listen, as every other developer promises to do, but we are also creating a mechanism to empower you, just as our entire team is empowered,” write the developers. “The fun, the heart of MINIMUM is no longer just ours, and we can’t wait to see where we collectively go from here.”
Real, curated community development can be a wonderful thing, as Nadeo well know – but it’s difficult to grasp how it might work without seeing more of Minimum. What do you think of what we’ve glimpsed so far?