Arcane Legends Interview with Fernando Blanco

If you’re a regular reader of this here blog, you’ve probably read one of the various posts about the Legends series from Spacetime Studios. The newest addition to the Legends series, Arcane Legends is due to be released in a few weeks and it promises a groundbreaking combat system that will deliver the most fast-paced, action-oriented co-op and player-vs-player gameplay of any Legends title to date.

Well, I managed to get some time with the Director of Marketing for Spacetime Studios, Fernando Blanco. Well it was not so much as ‘getting time with him’, but I did break into the offices of Spacetime Studios and leave him a list of questions written in chunky marmalade on his wall, and hot-damn he was not only nice enough to answer them for me but willing to drop all charges providing I sought medical help. What a nice chap.

OK, let’s start with an easy one, describe Arcane Legends using only one sentence?

It’s a visually stunning fantasy action RPG adventure (with pets!) for mobile devices from the developers of critically acclaimed Pocket Legends.

And which bits of Arcane Legends are you particularly proud of?

• It’s a “best of” experience. We have rolled the best features from Pocket Legends, Star Legends, and Dark Legends into Arcane Legends. It is a very well polished game that is just plain fun to pick up and play.
• The pet system. The new pet system introduced in Arcane Legends features companions that fight alongside you with special attacks, develop and level up, and can be fed as well as cared for.

Which games would you say, have been the main inspiration for the Legends series?

Torchlight, League of Legends, Gauntlet, Zelda, Secret of Mana and others.

Is there anything new working its way through the Legends series pipeline that you can share with me?

• The pet system is honestly a ton of fun in Arcane Legends. Not only can you collect dozens of mystical, powerful or just plain odd pets but you can develop and engage them in cool ways.
• A 3D cinematic engine has been added to progress the game’s story. It really adds to an already high-quality game and makes the story and what’s happening a lot more relatable and understandable.

Marketing games for a living sounds like a pretty cool job, is it is good as it sounds?

It is a ton of fun working with creative developers! I get to work closely with all the different divisions: production, design, art, operations and programming. Aside from contributing to gameplay development, I’m able to work on promo elements like the game trailer, advertisements and campaign materials that introduce the world of Arcane Legends to players.

What would be your typical day be like?

Marketing can be very broad, dealing with market research and focus groups, creative development of advertising as well as communication materials, public relations, media planning and buying in addition to storefront considerations. It means I am able to shift gears a lot (sometimes every day), which is something I enjoy a whole lot.

What’s your workspace like? Crazily cluttered or painstakingly ordered?

A little of both. We are coming closer to the launch of Arcane Legends, which means my desk gets a bit messier. Do my toys count as clutter?

What games do you enjoy playing?

Right now, I’m playing a lot of Arcane Legends for obvious reasons J I do enjoy certain third person action games, like Assassin’s Creed III which I’m also playing and loving right now. I really like (MMO)RPGs and play EVE Online, Star Wars The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2.

I am also playing Clash of Clans, Infinity Blade II and Battle Bears. Ok, maybe I am playing a lot of stuff.

And if you had to choose only one video game for the rest of your life, which one of those would it be?

EVE Online

Last question, if you could be any video game character, which would it be and why?

Simon Belmont. Everyone else runs away from the vampire horror house and he takes it head on! He uses a whip, like Indiana Jones, and can toss jugs of holy water with surprising consistency and accuracy. I’m sold.

Arcane Legends will be released in a few weeks but until then you can satisfy yourself with these earlier posts (Pet System / Trailer) or head over to Spacetime Studios.