Wolcen, or Umbra as it was known at that time, started as a mod for the original Crysis, that gave users the tools to develop RPGs on CryEngine. Our CEO Daniel Dolui work for years on this project, with the goal of creating something reminiscent of the look and feel of Diablo 2, but made with modern technology. You can still find videos of this project on youtube, like
this one or
this one.
As time went on, more people shared Daniel’s vision and joined the project, allowing the first working prototype see the light of day.
2 years after, with a team of 4, a second prototype was ready to be presented at GDC 2015. It already featured many skills, armors pieces, impressive particle effects and a randomly generated dungeon.
The prototype caught the attention of hack and slash enthusiasts, and word spread of a next-gen, class-free hack and slash being developed.
The very small team realized that fully realizing their vision would require expanding the scope of the project in a significant way.
In may 2015, the Kickstarter campaign was launched and was a huge success, as we received almost twice the amount of funds. More than 11000 people gave us their trust, even though we weren’t big names, so the four of us left our bedroom to create our game studio and our licence. Wolcen studio was born.
In march 2016, Wolcen was launched into Early Access, allowing us to build upon our relationship with the community.
