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South Park: The Fractured But Whole dev interview
Red Bull caught up with South Park: The Fractured But Whole game director, Ubisoft’s Jason Schroeder, to talk about that delay, working with Matt and Trey and pushing boundaries!
Red Bull: So you’ve touched on it a little, but could you expand on the reason for the game’s delay?
Jason Schroeder: Sure. Everyone had high expectations for the game. I mean the fans had high expectations, Matt and Trey had high expectations, and of course [Ubisoft] had high expectations, so when it was coming down to the wire we took a hard look at it and said ‘is this going to meet, or exceed everyone’s expectations?’, and we knew in its current form ‘no’, but we knew we could get there, so we took the time we needed.
It was more about polishing the content we have and just trying to make sure that we weren’t going to compromise on [any] jokes.
Jason: [Laughs] It was more about polishing the content we have and just trying to make sure that we weren’t going to compromise on [any] jokes. We weren’t going to compromise on any of the game’s moments and the game will still have the memorable stuff [players] come to expect.
Red Bull: So this demo you’re showing is arguably one of the most outlandish things we’ve ever seen, not just for games, but even for South Park itself…
Jason: [Chuckling uncontrollably]
Red Bull: Did it ever feel to you guys that Matt and Trey just realised that videogames is a unique platform to push boundaries even over their usual TV platform? I mean, what was that process like?
Jason: Well the rating boards are different, of course, and I think whether they’re making a videogame or their show or a Broadway play or a movie, they’re always going to look for ways in which how they can get their thing across, and maybe be shocking, but with a point and yeah, our content [here] is ‘unique’. But this is unique also because you interact with it; you do it, and that’s kind of the big difference in the comedy that you can put into a game rather than the comedy you can put into a show. And if the [South Park] boys went to the Peppermint Hippo -- which they’ve done in the show before -- they saw strippers, and went around, but they didn’t necessarily participate but now because the game is interactive, you get involved.
No more delays, please
© Ubisoft
Red Bull: Did the extra time allow you guys to stop and think about extra platforms, like maybe Nintendo Switch, for example?
Jason: We’re focusing on the Xbox One, PS4 and PC release of the game right now.
Red Bull: So from a control perspective, can you talk about how the PC controls differ from console?
Jason: Yeah, I mean you got to experience the lap-dance (in our hands-on demo), you know, you used the one to one analogue control, and so yeah we had to set that up on a keyboard which is a little bit ‘adapted’... [laughs].
Red Bull: Did you have to pair the game back at all, or is it because it’s Matt and Trey’s vision, you just have to roll with what they do and want?
Jason: Yeah, I mean our role is to try and make sure that we execute as seamlessly as possible on what it is they’re trying to do. If we compromise that, sometimes the point of the thing gets lost. And so if we don’t get that joke in, then the whole mission starts to become ‘well, should we even be doing that, or something else?’, so I never want to hesitate when it comes to that, I just wanna say ‘yeah, let’s get that content in’, and then if people get nervous, we’ll start figuring it out from there, but let’s get it in first.
Nothing fractured here - it's all in working order
© Ubisoft
Red Bull: There seems to also be an element to players creating their own jokes, if you will. You know, things like going and farting on other characters and having their reactions sort of fill an otherwise gameplay empty space -- is that a conscious thing? Like, through development and QA is this something you found people doing, and so did you push it further?
Jason: Yeah, we kind of call that: "opportunistic jokes. So sometimes you have the main throughline in the story we’re going to tell, then you have a couple of the ‘people will probably do this, people will probably do that’ moments, but Ubisoft has great playtest labs around the world and we do have some discreet players playing the game and giving us feedback and we can also see what it is that they’re drawn to, and that pushes us to know that people are loving this world, they’re looking around; exploring, seeing if they can find that hidden little skit; that hidden interaction with someone. And those are relatively easy to do if you just know that you’re going to find it.
Red Bull: How often do you send Matt and Trey builds of the game, and how often do they play it?
Jason: Weekly. There are different ways they review and we collaborate. Obviously it takes a lot of time to play through and RPG, so most efficiently I put together videos and stuff like that -- so more like an episode of movie retake sessions where they can see stuff [that’s changed] and then we get feedback pretty rapidly.
Ubisoft has great playtest labs around the world and we do have some discreet players playing the game and giving us feedback and we can also see what it is that they’re drawn to
Red Bull: So last time we spoke you mentioned that you’d built a really great pipeline with South Park Studios in order to handle assets quickly and seamlessly, and while I know you can’t speak to the future wholly, could you foresee if another opportunity for another game arises that the whole process would be quicker and more seamless?
Jason: Yeah, I mean [Matt and Trey] learnt to be game writers more effectively last time and we have learnt to be an arm of South Park this time much more effectively, so yeah, I hope that we keep on going. And keep getting more efficient [laughs].
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