Kingdom Come 2 Dev On Denying Instant Gratification, Elder Scrolls: Morrowind Influence

If you’ve started playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and you noticed how much freedom of choice you’re given, you may also think it seems reminiscent of earlier Elder Scrolls games. According to Kingdom Come 2 senior designer Ondřej Bittner, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion were both major influences for the game.

Bittner told GamesRadar that he favors Morrowwind over Oblivion, but both titles made an impact on the creative team behind Kingdom Come 2.

“Most of our designers are in their mid 30s–like, 30s to 40s–so these games had a huge impact on us,” noted Bittner. He went on to explain that Kingdom Come 2’s aversion to making side quests readily available at every turn was a deliberate choice inspired by those Elder Scrolls games.

“Instant gratification in games has become a problem where, to sustain dopamine for people, you have to constantly bombard [players] with stuff,” added Bittner. “One day they wake up and go, ‘Oh, this is all really obnoxious,’ and they shut it all down. So we kind of go back to the roots of RPGs where it’s sort of like: ‘Well, you can do whatever you want, and maybe go and do the main story.”

Bittner went on to share his belief that the game is more fun when it doesn’t tell players where to go, and he noted that this approach clashed with a younger generation of players who prefer being guided on their gaming journey. Bittner also said that his team’s approach goes back to the core RPG experience “with less hand-holding.”

So far, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is off to a hot start on Steam, with over 150,000 players concurrently. It also sold 1 million copies in a single day. Players seem to enjoy even the smallest details, including NPCs’ aversion to your character if you don’t bother to bathe. Warhorse Studios has also laid out its roadmap for Kingdom Come 2’s post-release content.