"The most important character was the planet itself": CEO of Shiro Unlimited talks about Dune: Spice Wars and its making

Dune: Spice Wars comes from the developers of the acclaimed Northgard. The upcoming 4X real-time strategy game is set in Frank Herbert's popular universe. It came out earlier this year as early access and was met with positive reviews from players and critics alike.

Sportskeeda Esports' Angshuman Dutta got a chance to speak with Sebastien Vidal, CEO of Shiro Unlimited, who provided insights into the game's influence, developmental journey, what the future holds, and more.

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Sebastien Vidal, CEO of Shiro Unlimited, talks about Dune: Spice Wars

Q: As an introduction, will you please share a little about what Dune: Spice Wars is for our readers?

Sebastien - Dune: Spice Wars is a real-time strategy game on an epic scale, where players can not only use combat, but also intrigue, politics, and spying to achieve dominance over the harsh planet of Arrakis.

Not only will you be dealing with a number of other factions battling you to claim their place as the rulers of Arrakis, but also the planet itself, which stands as one of the most dangerous places in the galaxy, with huge deserts, gigantic sandworms, and a plethora of other hazards to overcome. But it’s also the only planet with Spice, the most precious substance in the universe.

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Q: What was it like bringing the beloved world of Dune to life, more so as a 4X real-time strategy? Did you have any particular character that you wanted to see from the universe?

Sebastien - There is an impressive legacy of video games with Dune and especially Dune 2. That game (back in 1992) kick-started the entire real-time strategy genre. We wanted to do justice to the license and tip our hat to previous games, but also create something new.

We came up with numerous ideas on how to approach this (including a galaxy-spanning space strategy game), but ultimately decided that the most important character was the planet itself, and that after 20 years, Arrakis deserved its place in the spotlight.

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Q: Dune: Spice Wars is relatively slower than what a player would expect from a typical RTS. What was the thought process behind realizing the game as both 4X and real-time strategy?

Sebastien - This goes back to my point about doing justice to the license. A regular RTS title focuses heavily on combat and the world of Dune is so much deeper than that.

The gameplay (Image via Shiro Games)

It was obvious to us that intrigue and politics should not only be present, but a major part of the gameplay that players could focus on and work around, and could lead to victory just by focusing on this aspect of the game. 4X was the best genre to mix all these elements together and provide the deepest, most immersive experience.

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Q: What was the inspiration behind the design and art style of the game’s characters and the setting? For the latter, I read that you consulted a geologist to help with how it would look and play.

Sebastien - For the characters, the main inspiration was obviously the book itself. But because the planet is almost entirely made of desert, we obviously couldn’t show a lot of variety in terms of colors, so we decided to go with a stylized art direction.

That allowed us to lighten the mood and make the game more alive and accessible while bringing some more character to what would generally be considered quite a barren and lifeless environment.

The planet (Image via Shiro Games)

For the planet, we did work with a geologist who specializes in deserts (he worked in most of the major deserts we have here on earth). He provided us with tons of advice and pictures, including from Mars, so that our artists could get a good understanding of what things should look like on a planet with extremely high winds and no precipitation.

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Q: Shiro Games’ earlier Norse mythology-based strategy game, Northgard, received high praise from players and critics alike. Was there anything from Northgard that influenced what you guys did with Dune: Spice Wars?

Sebastien - Both games are real-time strategy titles with more than just combat, providing an accessible experience with limited impact of high APM. But in the end, they are quite different when you take the actual gameplay into account, with Dune: Spice Wars being a much longer and deeper experience.

Obviously, our experiences with Northgard helped us identify the best way to approach and shape Dune: Spice Wars, and provided some great references on what players expect from this style of game, but we wanted to make sure that we weren’t retreading the same path we took with Northgard, and aimed to develop a game that stands on its own, whilst pleasing fans of both the genre and the games that came before it.

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Q: Dune has already seen a number of films, shows, and games set in its world. Did any of those inspire you during the making of Dune: Spice Wars?

Sebastien - I personally read all the books in the 80’s, and I also played the board and card games, watched the shows and movies, and played the video games. Most of the people on the team did the same, so we didn’t have a lot of catching up to do. I think I can say the whole cultural collection of everything set within this universe inspired us.

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Q: Coming into the development process, did you face any major challenges with the project, especially since it is based on a well-known IP?

Sebastien - On the art front, making something lively with just sand and rocks seemed quite challenging initially, but we ended up with something that looks very good and has a lot of character, despite these limitations.

Factions in the game (Image via Shiro Games)

We had similar concerns with the gameplay in such a strange world (in terms of a variety of resources, for example). But in the end, these constraints ended up creating even more opportunities for creativity.

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Q: The multiplayer update went live on Dune: Spice Wars last month. How was your experience with developing and introducing the option to the game?

Sebastien - We knew from Northgard that a lot of players would be interested in this option. It is quite different as a standard game of Dune: Spice Wars is much longer than most players are used to in similar titles, but we’ve learnt very quickly that there is a strong community of players who want to experience the treachery of their friends firsthand (or as it has quickly become apparent, be the treacherous ones themselves)!

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Q: With Dune: Spice Wars out in Early Access for a number of months now, what has the player feedback been?

Sebastien - Feedback has been excellent! A lot of players and fans of this universe have been waiting for a new Dune game for over 20 years, especially a strategy game. As always, it is impossible to meet all expectations.

Some players want a remake or direct follow-up to the games in this world that came before it, and Dune: Spice Wars is not that. Our core community understands this and is very happy to finally have a gaming experience that faithfully recreates and represents the struggle for control of Arrakis that was portrayed in the books.

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Q: House Corrino is soon arriving as the fifth faction of the game. Can you shed some light on what players can expect next after that in Dune: Spice Wars?

Sebastien - The planning is not set in stone, but we have a couple of major updates that are coming together well and starting to look good, including a larger role for Councilors (either as military units fighting on the field or unique Agents) and the ability to take the fight to the skies with several unique ships and units for each faction.

We’ll be sharing more information about Corrino and these updates over the coming weeks/months, and we can’t wait to hear what our players think!