SteamWorld Heist II: A Shuhei Spicey Special

Setting the scene

Here’s the scenario: two gaming legends from almost opposite ends of the world come together to share their SteamWorld experiences over a plate of hot chicken wings drenched in spicy hot sauce. The goal? Work your way through the increasingly scovill heavy hot sauces while answering questions about SteamWorld. The problem? Brjann’s spice tolerance… But Brjann’s never let something as small as that get in the way of SteamWorld. So, with plenty of water at the ready, let the Q&A begin!

How Shuhei fell in love with SteamWorld

The year is 2013, the PS Vita is in its heyday, and SteamWorld Dig has just been released. Those were the good old days! 

Shuhei’s first introduction to SteamWorld was via SteamWorld Dig. As a frequent traveller Shuhei loved to play games on his PS Vita and SteamWorld Dig hit the mark! 

“It is like comfort food to me”, says Shuhei, a big souls-and roguelike fan. Chill, relaxing, yet challenging with beautifully crafted characters and environments and a story that will suck you right in. Many of these things have come to define the Steamworld franchise. 

But how did we get here?

SteamWorld Heist: A major turning point for the studio

SteamWorld Dig quickly became an indie darling and even today is a classic for anyone trying to get into the SteamWorld series. However, for Image & Form this success was bittersweet. Yes, they loved making SteamWorld Dig games and could make more to ride out the success (and they would with SteamWorld Dig 2!). But after years and years of creating edutainment games for hire it quickly became apparent that they may once again fall into a cycle of creating the same game over and over - “creative starvation”, as Brjánn aptly put it. 

Brjánn knew that in order to break out of this cycle and give SteamWorld the creative freedom it needed, something big was needed. Cue the lunchtime XCOM sessions.

Inspired by their shared love for XCOM, Image & Form began work on a space-themed turn-based strategy shooter. But this was not quite the game you think it may be. There were no steambots, no hand-drawn 2D worlds, no Piper Faraday (imagine!) - this was not a SteamWorld game. At least it wasn’t until one one lunchtime Brjánn wondered ‘wouldn't it be cool to make a 2d XCOM game and make it SteamWorld?‘ SteamWorld had already tried different genres with Tower Defense and Metroidvania Dig. If they could create a successful turn-based SteamWorld shooter, this would give the studio “infinite freedom” to create whatever they wanted. This could be the breakthrough they had been waiting for!

And so, Heist was born! Mixing traditional SteamWorld elements such as the Western setting, steambots, 2D hand-crafted art style with new elements like space and turn-based strategy mechanics - SteamWorld Heist became a major turning point for the studio.

“SteamWorld Heist - the original - is much much more important for the studio than maybe people understand. It was the game where we created the freedom to make whatever we wanted.” - Brjánn 

And luckily for us: SteamWorld Heist was a major success and the SteamWorld franchise as we know it today was born. Of course, Brjánn and his team did not stop there. From Dig to Heist to Quest to Build - it’s safe to say that SteamWorld cannot be defined by a singular genre. Brjánn and his team had finally made their dream come true!

SteamWorld Heist II: The next chapter

A few burnt tongues and water breaks later it was time for the final challenge: the ultimate spicy chicken wing. It was all that stood between Brjánn and being able to talk about SteamWorld Heist II. 

So, big breath, bite, and….not actually that spicy! Perfect! Time to dive into SteamWorld Heist II!

After the success of SteamWorld Heist, Brjánn and his team knew that this was not the last heist for them. And after a few additional creative projects - Dig 2, Quest and Build - it was time to return to Heist.

SteamWorld Heist II takes place on a shattered piece of the exploded Earth that happens to be covered in water. Players will join Captain Leeway and his crew of loyal steam-mates on their epic journey across the Great Sea Shard as they try to uncover the origins of the mysterious water corrosion. Just like its predecessor, SteamWorld Heist II is a turn-based strategy shooter where players will manage their crew, collect weapons, accessories, and hats, and use the fan-favourite ricochet mechanic to defeat enemies in hand-crafted 2D levels. Add to that new map exploration, real-time naval combat, and a fancy new job system and you have a recipe for an uproarious adventure!

While we had Shuhei with us we of course could not resist hearing his thoughts on Heist II. So, before diving into the spicy Q&A, we sat down and played a bit!

One of the things that immediately popped out to him (literally) was the look of the game. Since the release of the first game the SteamWorld Heist II team has been working incredibly hard on not only updating but also improving the graphics and look of the game. Using dynamic lighting and other technical tools, the team wanted to ensure that character, enemies, props, and other important elements really popped - both for aesthetic and accessibility reasons. And going by Shuhei’s reaction, the SteamWorld Heist II’s visuals do not disappoint.

Another feature that got a bit of a facelift is the much-loved ricochet mechanic. Brjánn and his team knew that this was one of the core features of the game, so if there was to be another Heist, the ricochet mechanic had to be perfect. 

“Being able to see the trajectory of the bullets is so tasty. You feel god-like when you get a shot that is bouncing 15 times and then hits the target.” - Brjánn 

But Heist II isn’t just about reviving and improving old mechanics. With new features such as the open map which lets you roam around the Great Sea Shard to explore every nook and cranny as well as real-time naval combat and a complex job system to allow for maximum crew optimisation, SteamWorld Heist II promises to be a worthy successor to Heist I.

And if it got the Shuhei Yoshida approval stamp that means it has to be great, right?

Looking ahead

SteamWorld Heist II will be releasing on August 8th, 2024 and will officially be the 7th entry into the SteamWorld franchise. But we are not quite done yet! Aside from a few super secret projects currently in development, there is still much to come. As Brjánn tells Shuhei:

“The future of steamworld is - there is so much to explore because the universe is ours - we can literally develop any kind of game in that universe!” 

Of course, there are a few requirements: games need to fit into the timeline, they need to feature robot characters, and they need to reference other SteamWorld games - but that is it! Want to make a SteamWorld racing game? Or maybe a robot dating sim? The possibilities are truly endless!

The final chicken wing

All good things have to come to an end! And with a final bite of their spicy chicken wings, Shuhei and Brjánn wrap up their spicy meeting.

Thanks for watching!

We hope you enjoyed this SteamWorld Heist II Q&A! Don’t forget to wishlist and/or pre-order SteamWorld Heist II on your favourite platforms before August 8th to join the crew. 

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