Defiance is an upcoming MMORPG and third-person shooter set to launch simultaneously on PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360. The game is being created in conjunction with the SyFy network, which will develop and launch a TV series of the same name. The game and TV show will share certain events and spawn event in the other medium.
The plot of this new sci-fi world revolves around a war between humans and a collection of alien societies. The aliens have escaped a collapsing solar system by sending arks filled with flora, fauna and inhabitants to what they thought was an uninhabited planet.
Votans reach Earth seeking to negotiation with the government on Earth, but find that they are not welcomed. Rather than turn away, they begin a war with the humans. During the war, the Votans drop terraformers on the planet and transform the surface of the planet. The Earth is no longer the same planet.
While launching an MMORPG and TV series to coincide with each other is a pretty innovative approach to capturing an audience, the game is trying to bring improvements to traditional MMOs, according to the new developers diary released by Trion Worlds.
"Defiance doesn't have a traditional lobby system in fact the world is your lobby," Chris Palu Lead designer says. "You don't go into lobby you just say hey I want to play this through our user interface and then you can keep doing what you are doing and when it ready you jump in."
The game is meant to truly emerese gamers in the fictional world by combing the action of a console third-person shooter, with the persistence, scale, and customization of an MMORPG. The development team want the game to function as a living and breathing world.
In this developer diary, the team also discusses what makes Defiance a unique shooter. Narrative Designer Trick Dempsey says, "Defiance is a third person shooter first and an MMO second. Defiance differs from other shooters because the game goes on whether you are present or not."
Defiance will be coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in April 2013. The SyFy series debuts in the same month.
Here is the video of the developer diary...