"I think when people see Chuck Norris riding a horse through a nightclub, they'll know what type of game we're trying to make," says Crime Boss: Rockay City development director Jarek Kolář. As far as scene-setting goes, it doesn't get more unhinged than that. Right? "But we also have Chuck Norris bench pressing a cop car." Well, of course.
Truth be told, I can't say I'm surprised. If you've spied any of Ingame Studios' incoming Crime: Boss Rockay City before now yourself – a '90s fever dream FPS heist 'em up that's as wild as it is weird – then you'll also be aware that it's out there. One minute, you might be storming a warehouse to steal illicit drugs. The next, you may be mired in a brutal firefight with an enemy gang; or standing off against a trigger-happy SWAT team; or latterly having Michael Madsen screaming in your face for a job not-so-well done, with Vanilla Ice on the phone winding you up in the background, while the aforementioned Norris tells you you're rubbish at video games in no uncertain terms.
Kolář adds: "The further people progress in the game, the bigger the challenges and more outlandish the jobs get. We want people to laugh when they see some of the crazy things their crew will have to do. We want people to say to themselves: 'Seriously, this is for real?'"
Next in the city
Upcoming PC Games: All the new PC games coming in 2023 and beyond
Crime Boss: Rockay City will unleash its brand of unorthodoxy next week, March 28, when it first arrives on PC. PS5 and Xbox Series X iterations are planned for some point later this year, but with strong flavors of GTA Online and Payday 2, the FPS action-meets-tactical shooter enters a space with some pretty fierce and established competition. In order to stand out, Kolář says a desire to maintain an ever-evolving roguelike is part of what drives him and his team – wherein every break in, bank heist and/or facility raid is different from the last. The expected array of community blogs, live streams, and various other social media content will support the goings-on away from the action, with some cool-sounding player-facing initiatives planned also.
"We might be making criminals out of our community, too," says Kolář. "Maybe we’ll ask them to get involved in some real-life Crime Boss activities? Who knows?! I’ve said too much. The word 'evolution' is what’s on our roadmap. Rockay is a city that never sleeps, and neither will the game’s development. From day one we’ll be iterating and improving upon the game."
"At the moment we’re focusing all our efforts making the Epic Store launch the very best it can be, and I’m really proud of what our team is accomplishing, but you’ll see as we grow that we’ll be introducing new characters and scenarios, new heists, new jobs to undertake, and even new narrative beats that will take the story off in entirely new directions. And, of course, we’ll be tweaking and improving upon the game itself and asking the community for their feedback too."
Kolář admits it's impossible to please everyone when responding to feedback, but says he and his team are determined to listen to everything, and implement the most appropriate suggestions that maintain the devs' creative vision. With a dedicated feedback page on the game's official website, coupled with a rigorous QA process pre-launch, Kolář's ultimate goal is to grow Crime Boss alongside its community, rapidly iterating and rolling out the most-requested suggestions as they come. Away from the nuts and bolts of its gunplay and heisting, a crucial part of this overarching process will be sustaining the tongue-in-cheek humor and hard-nosed '90s Hollywood vibe Crime Boss perpetuates throughout.
"It can be challenging to get the tone correct for these moments. The 90s were such a specific time for ridiculous action movies, we were amazed no one had yet taken those straight-to-VHS sensibilities and turned them into a game," Kolář continues. "We’ve got an open field to play in which enables us to be very free with our creative decisions. Sure, we need to stay grounded in some respects, and there has to be real consequences for actions taken in the game, but that’s not to say we’re beyond having Travis Baker rappel down the outside of a bank or have him winching priceless artifacts through a skylight with a fleet of stolen helicopters! All in a day’s work, right?"
If I can make it here
"We have a lot of Hollywood history to play with here. I can’t say too much, I don’t want to give anything away!"
With Michael Madsen, Chuck Norris, Vanilla Ice, Kim Basinger, Damion Poitier, Danny Trejo, Danny Glover, Michael Rooker, and Barry Papick all lending their '90s era likeness – visually and vocally – Crime Boss: Rockay City is hardly starved for time-specific talent. Kolář keeps his cards close to his chest regarding who might enter the fold next, if, indeed, anyone else is lined up, but he says enough to fuel speculation. "The late 80s and 90s was ripe with some of the most iconic stars in movies and TV. We would love to include as many as we can. We’ve even had a few names reach out to us which is really flattering, so we’ll see how it goes. We have so much post-launch content planned, it would seem wrong not to include a few new stars, right? We have a lot of Hollywood history to play with here. I can’t say too much, I don’t want to give anything away!"
Back to what Kolář can share, and the game's director says he wants the city of Rockay itself to grow over time, in scale and in scope. Again, he dreams of the game evolving alongside its community too, with a dedicated fan base of both older and younger players. You'd imagine Crime Boss' source material might appeal more to the former grouping – I say so as someone born in the mid-'80s and brought up in the 1990s myself – but Ingame Studios aims to strike a balance nevertheless.
Kolář adds: "I can say with some certainty the game will grow in ambition and scope over time, and the city of Rockay will hopefully be a thriving den of iniquity! As with any developer, in my heart I hope we’ll find an audience with a loyal fanbase of gamers who understand what it is we’re trying to achieve – pure, action-packed fun. The more fun people have, the more I know we’ve done our job."
Crime Boss: Rockay City is due on PC on March 28, 2023 via the Epic Games store, with PS5 and Xbox Series X iterations expected at some point later this year.
