‘Ori’ developer wants to “revolutionise the ARPG genre” or die trying

Moon Studios has said it wants to “revolutionise” the action role-playing game genre with its next release.

The studio released Ori And The Blind Forest in 2015 while follow-up Ori And The Will Of The Wisps came in 2020.

Taking to Twitter, Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler shared his ambitions for its upcoming game.

“Our next project is going to be a make-or-break moment for Moon. Either we manage to revolutionize the ARPG genre or we’ll slowly fade away into the distance,” he wrote.

“While that should be scary, I love the challenge,” he added before throwing the gauntlet down for Diablo and Path Of Exile. “We’re coming for you, may the best one win!”

Our next project is going to be a make-or-break moment for Moon:

Either we manage to revolutionize the ARPG genre or we’ll slowly fade away into the distance.

While that should be scary, I LOVE the challenge! Diablo, PoE, etc.: We’re coming for you, may the best one win! ????

— thomasmahler (@thomasmahler) February 22, 2023

“Wouldn’t it have been great to be a fly on the wall back in the 90s when Miyamoto bet heavily on the next Mario game becoming a 3d platformer,” he added. “I’m sure a lot of people probably thought the dude is nuts after seeing Star Fox. Why not just do another 2d Mario game?”

“A lot of times you have to just trust your instincts and ignore the naysayers, even if you yourself aren’t sure if this thing is gonna work out. Just roll up your sleeves and there’s no limit to what can be accomplished. It’s important that we take risks and push the status quo,” Mahler continued.

A job listing shared in 2019 confirmed that Moon was working on a new ARPG and Mahler today (February 23) revealed that it would have a top-down camera perspective. No further information has been shared about the game.

In other news, parent company Bethesda has confirmed that Tango Gameworks founder and studio head Shinji Mikami is set to leave the studio after 12 years.