'Kingdom Come: Deliverance II' Creative Director Daniel Vavra Explains Why He's Not Working On Warhorse's Next Game: "This Almost Physically Destroyed Me"
Daniel Vavra, who was the Creative Director at Warhorse Studios while it made Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, explained why he won’t be working on the company’s next game.
First, Vavra’s comments come after it was announced by Czech Crunch that Vavra would no longer be the Creative Director at the company, but has transitioned into a brand new role the company’s Transmedia Director.
In this role he’ll oversee the company’s efforts to make films and TV shows as well as other media outside of video games. Warhorse Studios CEO Martin Frývaldský told the outlet, “Getting Kingdom Come on screen or on screens over the next few years is another milestone we want to achieve, and that's Dan's new role. You won't meet him in the office every day anymore, but in a broader sense he's still part of Warhorse.”
“Dan Vávra's new position could be called transmedia director,” he added. “In any case, we take the film as a supplement to our game creation, which can be extremely.”
As for what to expect from the film, Frývaldský shared, “Some film adaptations of video games have only repeated their pattern, but for example the aforementioned Kingdom Come comic has chosen the method of complementary stories of heroes from the game. We work with both options. However, whoever played Kingdom Come or even Mafia knows Dan's handwriting and can expect a strong story again.”
Additionally, he shared that this new position was Vavra’s decision, “Dan himself wanted to move. He made three games that were a world success, he has long wanted to try it with something else.”
In a Facebook post Vavra affirmed it was decision and explained, “Making big games is very difficult, which is a politically correct expression for ‘complete psycho’. This almost physically destroyed me.”
“While we were finishing KCD1, I ended up on drops in the hospital. Two years ago while finishing KCD2, I almost had a heart attack and have stents in my arteries,” he said. “At that time I decided to finish the game and no longer work with this style and tempo. I don't want to do another monster game in similar stress, inevitably get angry 100 times every day, sit on meetings, face an endless stream of unsolvable problems. To constantly deal with some political correctness and old-fashioned media from both sides of the opinion spectrum.”
“I don’t want to and above all don’t have to,” he declared. “I like to work at my own pace doing the things I love on my terms and that’s what I do.”
On top of this, he also pointed to an incoming technological revolution in how video games will be made, “Besides that, there is a technological revolution like never before, which will irrevocably and fundamentally change the way today’s games and movies are created.”
“When you start developing a project with 300 people today, due to be released in 5 years, quite probably at the time of release, 20-member teams will be doing similar things in a few months. You can think all you want about AI slops, but that's it,” Vavra elaborated.
Finally, he also admitted to neglecting his family, “Besides, I get up when I feel like, I do what I want, what I like and with whom I want. I have a big family I neglected and I need to fix it. I started to properly ‘pump iron’ again and eat better.”
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