[Interview] Temtem devs on game’s evolution, future of the IP, more

Temtem, a massively multiplayer creature-collection adventure, is finally out on Switch after previously spending a couple of years in early access. Crema game director Guillermo Andrades and community manager Lucía Prieto have now shared more about the title in an interview with Nintendo Everything.

Some of the topics we discussed include how the studio landed on the idea to make Temtem, how it has evolved since its debut in early access, whether we could see the IP featured outside of games, and the possibility of a sequel. You can read our full interview below.

Temtem is a pretty different game compared to Crema’s prior titles. What led the studio to create a massively multiplayer creature-collection experience?

Guillermo Andrades: We’ve been growing our scope with each game we have worked on. We started with a small mobile app, moved to a 2D mobile game, moved to a 3D mobile game… I think we have peaked with Temtem though, at least for now!

When we finished our previous game, we spent a couple of months gathering ideas from the team and working on some prototypes but nothing really worked out. So that led us to get back to our “let’s do this sometime” wishlist where we had a game like Temtem.

Luckily our lead programmer also had a lot of experience creating and managing MMOs, so it wasn’t as crazy as it sounded.

The game has been in early access for a couple of years. How has it evolved since its initial release?

Lucía Prieto: A lot, actually! We had a much smaller idea originally, and the game was going to be much more difficult. It’s hard to say no to your community when they come up with brilliant ideas, so over time we started thinking bigger. Adding something here and there became broadening the scope in almost every aspect of the game. Every island is bigger and more polished than the previous one, Temtem designs became more complex and daring, and the features we planned as tiny became huge. Although the Early Access was supposed to be a planning and testing period, at some point we even stopped to create endgame content for the current players, who were asking for more to do. In short, the game has become more social, less difficult, and much more complex internally.

Simply because it’s a creature-collecting type of game, it’s inevitable for some to talk about Temtem in the context of Pokemon. How do you feel about comparisons that are made between the two?

Lucía Prieto: The comparison is not only unavoidable, it’s healthy to a degree. We understand anything in the same genre will eventually be compared, and we don’t resent those who make the comparison. Most of us are Pokemon fans and grew up with it, so it’s flattering to even be compared to such a relevant and important game. The one thing we usually point out is that Temtem is not backed up by 25 years of learning, progressing and developing, and that we’re a much smaller IP who hasn’t branched out beyond game development. At the end of the day, we always claim each game, even in the same genre, should get enough space to be its own thing and not be defined by its differences or similarities with another game, so that’s what we preach to our community.

Is getting into the game early going to lead to more advantages or bonuses? Alternatively, will there be anything unobtainable for those who jump into the game later in its lifespan?

Guillermo Andrades: The biggest advantage is knowledge, having played the game for a couple of years has led our most dedicated players to know everything about the game, but it isn’t necessarily a huge gap between them and new players. There is nothing that new players are going to miss, beside some cosmetic items exclusive to Early Access players.

For the competitive aspect, we’re even removing all restrictions in an upcoming patch and will allow everyone to create their own competitive team without needing to spend any time training it, so the field is going to be even more balanced between all users.

Can you confirm if cross-progression is supported across all platforms?

Lucía Prieto: Absolutely it is! All platforms play together thanks to cross-play, and any platform can be linked with any other given platform through cross-progression. A player who owned the game on every platform could very easily share their main account across all of them!

Temtem feels like the sort of IP that’s ripe for other media opportunities like a television show, trading cards, spin-off games, etc. Does Crema have interest in any of these possibilities?

Guillermo Andrades: Definitely! We’ve been already exploring some opportunities, but our team is relatively small and we’ve been ultra focused on completing our vision for Temtem and reaching this point.

With the success of Temtem, how much longer until the story is completed, and how much story or event support will exist afterwards?

Guillermo Andrades: The story is already completed! With 1.0 we’re introducing an endgame island which features some extra activities for the most dedicated players, but the story has been completed during the Early Access period.

While we’re not necessarily looking to add more story content in the future, we still have several features we want to release for Temtem in order to expand the game even further, including the third Mythical Temtem which isn’t known yet!

Is a sequel something that Crema would be interested in pursuing in the future?

Guillermo Andrades: No, not really. Our current focus is to keep working on Temtem and all the bits we still want to add to the game and like mentioned before, explore new opportunities for the IP.