Interview: Alexey Kozyrev talks Warlock: Masters of the Arcane

I recently got the chance to interview Alexey Koxyrev of Ino-co about their upcoming game, Warlock: Master of the Arcane.

TheBitFix: Tell me a little about yourself. What do you do at ino-co? How long have your worked there? What got you interested in the game industry?

Alexey Kozyrev: I’m the CEO of Ino-Co Plus company, and I have founded it. I’m working in the game industry for about 11 years by now, as well as the core of my team. I wanted to make new games since childhood, and I still cannot imagine better job. My first big game was Star Wolves (1st part), followed by Fantasy Wars, Elven Legacy and my Majesty 2 title. In Warlock I’m working mostly on general ideas, quality control, prioritisation of features and team management. We have excellent experienced developers here, who also love strategic titles, so it is a pleasure to work on such project. In addition, Paradox is very good publisher, which makes it even better.

TBF: How would you describe Warlock?

Alexey: Warlock is fantasy 4x grand strategy title placed in Ardania fantasy world, with roots in old legendary title Master of Magic. It is really very deep and diverse, with lots of different units, races spells and upgrades. Map generation and Great Mage customisation make the game very replayable and different each time.

TBF: What makes Warlock different from other strategy games?

Alexey: There are not many of 4x titles nowadays, unfortunately, and Warlock has many features that make it unique game on market. But the main distinction of this type of game is replayability. You just cannot learn the game from the first campaign, and there always is something more to learn about game. Other distinction is RPG elements, when all your troops gain experience and new abilities overtime, and they also could be improved by different upgrades and magic. For example, you can make Galleons fly with the Levitation spell to build an air fleet. The variety of magic also makes a change, for example, your can summon powerful Earth and Fire elementals near your opponents castle, right after the firestorm and earthquake — to make him rethink his decision to demand a tribute from your kingdom.

TBF:What is your favorite part of the game?

Alexey:It is a difficult question, because everything is interconnected, but I think that I enjoy mostly the process of buffing and upgrading of units in order to build super soldiers powerful, invulnerable an immortal, even if the half of my kingdom works for a single unit. I also like to conquer other worlds and look for treasures.

TBF: How different has this game been compared to your older ones?

Alexey: Well, it is one of my dream projects — the game I wanted to develop since schooldays, so it is very important for me, and given an opportunity we will work on it even after release date to improve it further on. Normally we are a bit tired of the game on the point of the release and want to start something new, but not in this case. I play Warlock every day for half of the year by now, and it is still interesting and enjoyable to play for me.

TBF: I love the voice overs, who did them?

Alexey: We are very serious about voice acting. With Warlock we are working with different sound and voice-acting studios and actors, such as George Ledoux, who have acted as Adviser in every game of Ardania setting.

TBF: Anything else you’d like to say?

Alexey: Warlock: Master of the Arcane will be out very soon, so do not miss it!