Christofer Sundberg, who founded Avalanche Studios back in 2003, recently took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the Mad Max video game. In a candid tweet, Sundberg said that the game could have been significantly better if it had been allowed to follow its original creative vision.
He described the financial repercussions the team faced whenever they disagreed with any external demands from WB, which led to compromises that ultimately affected the game’s quality and overall vision.
These tweets were in response to George Miller’s original comment during the press tour of Furiosa, where he said that the original 2015 game didn’t quite meet his expectations.
Christofer Sundberg Shares What Went on Behind the Scenes During 2015’s Mad Max Game
Sundberg revealed plenty of new information about the game’s challenging development after Miller stated that the game didn’t live up to expectations. He also said that he’d love to see Hideo Kojima make a Mad Max game.
This is complete nonsense and just shows complete arrogance. They did everything they could to make this a complete linear game after having signed up with a developer of open-world games. I'm sure Hideo Kojima would make an awesome Mad Max game, but it would be a completely… https://t.co/eFwogyfDNY
— Christofer Sundberg 🧨💦⚔️ (@CHSundberg) May 23, 2024
His statement sheds light on the challenges game developers face, particularly the conflict between creative aspirations and budget. In this case, having a strict overseer such as WB made things even worse for their original vision for the game.
Sundberg also said that the people from WB who were overseeing the game knew nothing about video games or how they were made. They wanted it to be more linear and more like the movies, but that wouldn’t be possible for an open-world game.
As we were forced to release Mad Max on the same day as MGS, they blamed us for the bad sales and cancelled a bunch of awesome DLC that was just sitting there waiting to be released.
— Christofer Sundberg 🧨💦⚔️ (@CHSundberg) May 23, 2024
He also revealed that they were forced to reveal the game on the same day as Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain, which was pretty much a death sentence. The disappointing sales forced WB to cancel future DLC for the game, although it was already completed and just sitting there to be released.
This revelation has sparked discussions within the gaming community about the importance of creative freedom and the impact of external influences and producers on game development, especially when they know very little about the game and the industry they’re working with.
2015’s Mad Max Has Become Sort of a Cult Classic Since Then
Despite all the developmental issues and delays, the game turned out to be pretty good and has gained somewhat of a cult status since then. Almost everyone who has played the game really liked it and highly recommends it.
At release, the game received mostly positive reviews for its setting and narrative, with some criticism towards repetitive open-world activities and some jank in its gameplay and design. The game included fun car combat, enemy camps to explore and liberate, and brutal melee encounters, which did a good job at capturing the essence of the Mad Max universe.
During its initial development, the game was headed by God of War director Cory Balrog. He worked with George Miller, the director of the Mad Max movies, while Balrog was at Avalanche Studios but this project didn’t come to fruition completely.
Tweets by Sundberg suggest the publisher pushed for a more linear experience despite Avalanche’s previous experience and expertise in open-world games like the Just Cause series. This resulted in scrapping a year’s worth of development and potentially scaled-back features.
Would you like to see a new Mad Max game in the future? Let us know in the comments!
