The Redesign That Saved Deathloop

Before Deathloop was released to critical acclaim, early playtesters found the game so incomprehensible that it required a redesign in order to save the game from utter disaster.

Back in June 2020, the world saw gameplay from Deathloop for the very first time, revealing its slick gunplay, cool aesthetic, and an intriguing mystery to unravel. The video was met with roaring excitement.

For fans, the chance to delve into a new world developed by Arkane Lyon was exciting. Internally, however, Deathloop wasn't garnering the same enthusiasm, with a lot of early playtesters not understanding what the game even was.

Dana Nightingale, Deathloop's campaign director, tells the story of the redesign that saved the game from near disaster. Early user research had criticized the game for its obtuse and esoteric design, with some players confusing it for a different genre entirely. Much like the premise of the game, Dana had to approach the game's design from many different angles over and over again, until piecing together something coherent for early playtesters to understand only weeks before its official release date. 

This is the story of the redesign that saved Deathloop.

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