Interview with Sanctum CEO Westbergh

{sidebar id=1}AbleGamers, Patrick Hancock: I can tell from the main menu that you plan to keep supporting the game. How long do you plan to support the game? Can we expect more levels for both single player and multiplayer?

CS CEO Anton Westbergh: We will keep supporting the game for as long as it’s doable from an economic standpoint. We love our game and would very much like to keep working with it forever, and as long as we can make our living from it, we will. There will be new levels for both single and multi-player. We look a lot on the models of other popular games and providing support and new content is a good way to make a long lasting product.

PH: Will all future DLC be paid or free?

AW: It might be a combination. One thing that’s for sure though is that the first content that’s being added will be free.

PH: What are your influences for making this game? Both for the gameplay and the art style.

AW: We’ve taken lots of influence from other tower defenses and also shooters of course. I think that Portal has been a big inspiration for our artists.

PH: Are they any plans to port this game to consoles in the future?

AW: We want to move Sanctum to as many platforms as possible, but it’s too early to get into details. We have the ambition to nourish our trademarks for as long as possible why porting comes naturally.

PH: Finally what are your favorite turrets to use in the game? Any favorite enemies?

AW: Personally I love the Lightning Tower. It’s cool looking and can do some serious damage, especially with the added bounce on higher levels. My favorite enemy is the walker. Simple but fun to kill, especially when you bunch them up and finish them off with grenades.

PH: Were you aware of the disabled gamer community before you started developing?

AW: No.

PH: Did you actively think about accessibility while developing the game?

AW: We have put a lot of energy and effort in trying to create a very easy to use interface in the game. Accessibility is very important for all users.

PH: Were there (or are there) any fears regarding the accessibility of your game?

AW: Designing an easy to access game can be hard. We have some pretty advanced systems where the player has to build in first person, and also upgrade tower and weapons. This includes lots of information on the screen and different colors and I feel that these might be the primary areas that can be difficult from an accessibility aspect.

PH: The biggest hurdle disabled gamers will probably encounter in Sanctum is the first person shooter aspect. Would it be possible/plausible to patch in a "beginner" difficulty where gamers can exclusively rely on their tower defense skills?

AW: Everything is possible. If Sanctum does well enough we are going to add on content, features and game modes. A game mode where you don’t have to focus on the FPS-aspect is an addition in that might be possible.

PH: In your future endeavors, will accessibility be a major concern while developing?

AW: We have to investigate the market, and if the demand is big enough, of course. It all boils down to how we can make a living from producing games. As a small developer you have to focus on the biggest audience, and what the majority demands.

PH: Thank you for your time and willingness for an interview. I'll be glad to help you kick-start your disabled community research by directing you to www.ablegamers.org/33million for a wealth of information on the disabled gamer community. There are more disabled gamers than you may think and it only takes some simple fixes to include most of them into your games.

Be sure to check out our Game Accessibility Review of Sanctum.