Item 42 is a small development team but they’re currently working hard to release a tactical first-person shooter set in the UK, known as Blister. The game aims to revive fan-favorite features from Rainbow Six, SWAT, and Door Kickers, rolling it all into a single-player package for modern times.
The information above comes from a new interview that went down between Blister dev team, Item 42, and Japanese publication site EAA. The site asked many questions, and some of the most interesting questions and answers are posted below.
Firstly, when the site asked the developer of said game how current progress is going, the developer responded by saying that the team is securing funds to develop Blister full time.
If successful, development may or may not take that long. The developers hope to create a vertical slice or demonstration for Blister to show part of the game at the beginning of Q3 2018.
When the publication site asked the dev if crowdfunding or Kickstarter seemed like a good option, the dev replied and said that considering the case where external funds are obtained, the team would like to avoid crowdfunding due to the risk at this point.
The conversation then moved on to an Early Access release and how updates will be shipped. The dev touched on both queries by saying that Blister is pretty much up in the air at this point regarding an Early Access release, as for post-launch updates the team will distribute all of them for free — including new stages.
When the publication site veered the conversation over to platforms and what system fans can expect Blister to be on, the dev made mention that it will release for Steam, and if the tactical FPS does well enough, a console launch could happen much later.
We also learn from the interview that Item 42 feel that there is still a chance for single-player shooters to hold up in today’s market. The team believes if you build a game around a unique system that has distinctive characteristics, it will surely attract people.
As of now, Blister is set to hit PC and currently has no release date. You can read the full interview by hitting up fpsjp.net or you can visit item42.com for more info on the devs.