Gamers enjoy lore. Whether it's around their favourite tabletop games, card games, PC or console titles. Developers enjoy it, and it's why the likes of Riot have spent so long trying to make League of Legends make sense as much thematically as it does within the game itself.
However sometimes a game doesn't need any lore and in-fact, if it had any, it would probably detract from the experience. That's the attitude Rocket League developer Psyonix has had since the beginning, as it's never told anyone who's driving the cars. It clarified why that is in a recent email to a fan who asked just who was driving the cars that race around the walled arenas.
"Officially, we’re not telling," it said.
"We haven’t said if they’re RC cars or regular-sized cars, or even if they’re small. We haven’t said if people drive them, if they’re sentient, or if they’re controlled by some sort of AI.
"We have very intentionally kept this a secret, and will continue to do so.
"It’s more fun that way (and easier for people to enjoy the game without having a specific lore to adhere to)."
What's different here is that Psyonix is keeping all of its lore a secret. It's there, there is an explanation behind it all, but like every great trick, one you know how it's done the magic is gone. That's what Psyonix is protecting by keeping its lore secretive.
Do you think that's a good way forward?
And who do you think is driving the cars?
