After several months of relative silence, the leaders at 38 Studios have emerged to talk about their recently announced product, Project Mercury, and gave the ZAM staff an update on the future of Copernicus.

ZAM: Really? It seems hard to imagine that no one is star struck to be working with names like R.A. Salvatore, Todd McFarlane, and Curt Schilling… 

Schilling: We’ve never had an ego issue here at the studio, and that’s saying something considering the caliber of people we have on staff. But as long as everyone understands that the game will never be as big or epic as I want it to be, then everyone can understand where I’m coming from and it made the growth and expansion of this company very easy.

We’re making an industry disruptive, world changing IP. And that’s been our goal since day one.

Danuser: For every discussion or disagreement we’ve had in the studio, it’s never been about “I’m Curt Schilling” or “I’m R.A. Salvatore” or “I’m so-and-so.” It’s always coming out of a passion for what we’re doing. We all have an emotional connection with it. When you have that kind of investment with people like this, it’s a fantastic experience and you just want to come up with the best products possible.

ZAM: So you’re all very close to the world that you’re creating?

Schilling: At the end of the day, you’re asking players to invest in your world, to spend their lives in your world, and you can’t honestly expect that out of them if you don’t feel the same way yourself.

Salvatore: Everyone that comes into our offices for the first time and see the product that we’re creating, they buy in immediately. To me, that’s a good indication that if all these talented people who know what they’re doing are willing to be a part of your project, then you’re on the right track.

ZAM: So when are you going to open the doors and start to let people into your world?

Schilling: We joke about it in the studio, because – for me – it’s the hardest thing in the world to do, and the easiest thing. In my heart, I’m a gamer. I’ve been through the cycles of three years of lead-in to a product. I’ve seen so many good games come out that get bad reviews because the games simply aren’t what people expected them to be.

We need the perfect plan to roll out something as big as what we’re doing. Our new CMO, Denise Kaigler, has an amazing amount of experience in the video game industry, and we brought her on board because you only get that one chance to make a first impression. Since we’re creating this network of products, everything that we create is tied together and we can’t just go out and open the doors right away.

If it were me – as the gamer – that is what I’d do. I’d go out and tell everyone everything that we’re doing. But that’s not the right thing to do, and I understand that. This industry has burned its consumers so many times, and the market is so saturated with product, we need to make sure we don’t get lost in the shuffle. I have confidence in our product and what we’re doing, but we have to make sure people don’t avoid jumping on board with us.

Salvatore: On top of that, how fair is it to the game and the consumer if we announce things that are going to change. This is a long, long process, and you really have to be careful about it. If I look at some of the things that are in the game now, two years ago there was no way I would’ve foreseen what has been added. It’s a living thing, and you have to follow that path to end up with an amazing final product.

Danuser: We’ve said one thing from the beginning: we don’t want to tell people what we’re going to do or what we plan on doing. We want to show people what we’ve done. Here’s what it is. Respond to this. Experience this.

And that’s what we want to show people when we finally get the chance.

ZAM: Thanks so much for your time, and I cannot wait to see all that Copernicus and Project Mercury have to offer!