GreedFall: The Dying World Interview – Lessons From Early Access, Gameplay Changes, Console Performance, and More

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GreedFall: The Dying World is a large-scale game, so the developers at Spiders released an Early Access version to fix any problems before the full launch. With the 1.0 release coming soon, we had the chance to ask the studio some questions. Jehanne Rousseau (Creative Director), Nicolas Ducart (Design Director), and Wilfried Mallet (Technical Director) generously answered our questions about the game’s story, how it plays, and the technical aspects behind it.

When we reflect on making the first GreedFall, what key things did we learn that helped shape how we created The Dying World?

As a game writer, I quickly learned players don’t just want to fight their way through a game. They love having options! They really enjoyed the different factions and getting to know companions, so I focused on expanding that – giving companions more personal stories and quests. We also worked hard to make the main storyline less repetitive, adding tons of alternative ways to complete quests, hidden solutions, more factions to interact with, and a wider variety of locations to explore. Basically, we wanted to give players as much choice and freedom as possible.

By removing the ‘2’ from the title, GreedFall: The Dying World feels less like a direct sequel and more like its own separate game. How does this shift in branding affect the game’s creative direction and how it actually plays?

Jeanne Rousseau explained that The Dying World wasn’t intended as a sequel or prequel, but as a standalone story within the same universe – similar to how BioWare handled the Dragon Age series. However, the ‘2’ in the title was causing confusion among players, so they decided to remove it.

Despite sharing the same universe, The Dying World wasn’t intended to be a sequel or prequel – it was always envisioned as a standalone story.

The first game was known for its unique combat system that let you fight in real-time but also pause to plan. How has the combat in The Dying World improved this system, making it more complex, smoother, and giving players more ways to approach battles?

When developing The Dying World, we carefully considered player feedback on the combat system from our first game. Many players wanted more control over their companions, so we designed a more tactical combat experience. We made a lot of adjustments during early access based on player feedback, which was a great learning process. Now, players can choose from three playstyles: a highly tactical approach, a real-time with pause system similar to the first game, or a hybrid of the two. We also believe player agency is crucial, so we expanded character customization with diverse “profiles” and extensive skill trees, available both during character creation and throughout gameplay. Finally, we’ve added more options to fine-tune the game’s difficulty.

GreedFall was known for letting players truly shape the story. How much of that impactful decision-making and resulting consequences is present in this new game?

Jeanne Rousseau emphasizes that meaningful choices were a top priority during development – even more so than the combat, likely due to her background as a writer. The team ensured every decision has repercussions, ranging from minor effects to significant changes. For instance, players can lose more companions in The Dying World than in the original game.

What are some of the biggest gameplay changes happening in the 1.0 release?

Since our last early access update, the team has been working hard to refine the game, fix bugs, make improvements, and add new features in preparation for its full release.

We’ve finished and refined the final boss and all monster encounters. We’ve also made it harder to get behind enemies and improved how quickly combat starts when enemies raise the alarm, aiming for smoother, more exciting fights. We’ve added new camera angles and improved movement during combat. Posture skills can now be used continuously, and we’ve added protections to prevent issues when players are the last one standing or trying to revive allies. Finally, we’ve thoroughly balanced equipment, crafting, trading, item limits, reputation, relationships, rewards, and loot, and polished enemy encounters and how their difficulty scales as you progress.

Players will soon be able to play through the complete story of GreedFall: The Dying World, and we can’t wait to hear what they think!

You now have a few different ways to play: a tactical approach, a style like the first game’s real-time with pause system, or something in between those two.

How long will it take to beat the game?

According to Nicolas Ducart, the game’s length varies depending on how much you want to explore and your preferred playstyle. Completing the main story will likely take around 30 hours. But if you aim to finish everything – side quests, exploration, and all other content – it could easily take over 50 hours.

What can you tell us about the world size and how seamless it will be?

In GreedFall: The Dying World, the game world is structured similarly to the original GreedFall: it’s semi-open, meaning you travel between distinct areas. However, a new feature is the Constanzia, a ship you can use to sail between regions instead of traveling overland.

The majority of the game unfolds on the continent of Gacane, which boasts more varied cities than those found on Teer Fradee. Each city has a unique culture and architectural style, creating dense and diverse environments to explore. In GreedFall: The Dying World, the world will feel even larger and more interesting to players. Throughout your journey, you’ll uncover a wealth of discoveries and travel to different regions of Gacane, encountering important characters who will either aid or oppose you.

For the PS5, PS5 Pro, and Xbox Series X versions of the game, what resolution and frame rate are you hoping to achieve? Will there be different graphics options to choose from?

Wilfried Mallet explains that the game has two graphics settings. ‘Performance’ mode aims for smooth gameplay at 60 frames per second, while ‘Quality’ mode prioritizes better visuals at 30 frames per second.

The majority of the game unfolds on the continent of Gacane, which boasts more varied cities compared to those found on the island of Teer Fradee.

The Xbox Series S remains a key component of the Xbox platform. What were the main technical hurdles in adapting The Dying World to run on the Series S, and what steps did the development team take to optimize the game for that console?

Optimizing a game for different platforms is always challenging, and the Xbox Series S required particular focus. Fortunately, we had already learned a lot about this console while developing Steelrising, so we were prepared to make the necessary changes to deliver a great experience for players.

Could you explain how you’re using the PlayStation 5’s fast storage and DualSense controller, or the Xbox’s Velocity Architecture, to make games more immersive and load faster?

We really utilized the powerful storage capabilities of both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Specifically, we benefited from the PS5’s fast SSD (including its Kraken hardware decompression) and Xbox’s Velocity Architecture. This let us load more detailed and diverse textures without making the game take longer to load.

As a gamer, I’m really curious – with the new consoles letting developers build these huge, detailed worlds, did the team ever think about bringing the game to the Switch 2? And if not, was it because the Switch 2 just couldn’t handle it, the game was too big to fit, or was it a decision about where they wanted to focus their efforts?

Wilfried Mallet has confirmed that while a Switch 2 version is possible from a technical standpoint, there are no plans to develop one right now. The team is currently concentrating on supporting the platforms they’ve already announced.

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2026-03-05 14:43