Directorate Novitiate is a Forthcoming RPG From Another Former-AAA Indie Studio
Nesting Games is a new indie studio built from former AAA developers, and Directorate Novitiate is its debut title. A release date is yet to be announced, but Nesting Games has said it will self-publish.
Directorate Novitiate is an urban fantasy action RPG following Mercury, a special operative in the titular organization, who battles supernatural threats by night and tries to keep her normal life from falling apart during the day. A new narrative trailer reveals more about the setting.
“With quiet intensity and stylized noir visuals, the trailer teases Mercury’s double life. By day, she’s a daughter and friend; by night, an assassin navigating a secret war between Syndicates,” the developer said in a press release. “As the mysterious Constellation Killer closes in, Mercury faces impossible choices between loyalty, survival, and her own humanity.”
A New Name With Old Experience
Founded in 2021 by Frederick Brassard, a former Ubisoft Montreal employee who subsequently founded or otherwise helped run other known game studios (including Frima and Lucky Hammers), Nesting Games is the latest studio to come to light with an indie outlook but backed by years of industry experience.
“Right now, we are self-published,” Brassaard said in a recent video interview with Jay Powell of IndieGameBusiness. “So it’s non-stop work. The thing you cannot do is be lazy. It’s constant community management from me, my business partner, and also my team.”
This boots-on-the-ground approach is necessary for any new game studio, no matter what links it may have to previous companies. At the very least, it also helps show gamers that the people from the studio are interested in what the community thinks, which ties into why Directorate Novitiate is being launched into Early Access.
“Early Access for a small developer is revenue,” Brassard said. “I still play video games, I have a passion for video games. But, no matter what, it’s a business. So, kicking revenue early on, it’s extremely beneficial.”
“And also the great thing about Early Access, which is awesome beside the business, is you get feedback from the community right away. You can balance your game with the response of the community.”
Party Like It’s 2006
While player feedback for hands-on gameplay of Directorate Novitiate remains to be seen, the game is set to stand out from the AAA crowd. It evidently takes cues from other urban fantasy titles such as Secret World, as well as popular culture like Supernatural and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which is a marked contrast to modern titles that favor boomer shooters and player grind.
As the game’s official site puts it, players can expect combat that includes gun kata, an acrobatic moveset first popularised by the movie Equilibrium (2002). There’s also an RPG leveling system that combines upgradable perks with abilities.
In terms of a full release, Nesting Games is being sensible and not rushing: “We anticipate the game will be in Early Access for a minimum of 1 year but we may need more time to finish the game. We plan on releasing a few major updates during this period of time with potentially smaller updates which aim to optimize the experience.”
