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Spec Ops: The Line dev teases next project

German developer Yager suggests next game won't be a shooter, says "maybe it's time to do something different."

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Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager has teased that its next game will not be a shooter. Speaking with Edge, managing director Timo Ullmann said the developer hopes to avoid being billed as an outfit that only makes military shooters, so it is turning its attention to "something different."

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"After five years of working on Spec Ops, maybe it's time to do something different so you don’t get trapped in that box where we're just making military shooters," Ullmann said. “We still have to be commercial--we learned that the hard way--but by being independent we can live creatively and never be labelled or framed as being about a certain thing."

Ullmann pointed to games like Dishonored and Dragon's Dogma as those that prove consumers are interested in new ideas. On top of this, he said due to the rise of emerging platforms and business models, the time is right to launch a new franchise.

"We've never had more platforms and more business models, so it's a good time for new IP," Ullmann said. "After a seven-year console lifecycle, people are longing for something new--gamers and publishers, actually--and that suits us fine."

Last month, Yager signed a deal with Epic Games to license the Unreal Engine 4 to power a AAA next-generation title. The Berlin, Germany-based Yager is the first European independent studio to license the technology.

This new game will be unveiled in the coming months, but job listings at the studio hint that the game may feature microtransactions and cross-platform play. A desirable candidate for a "monetization designer" will have "in-depth knowledge of cross-platform games and microtransaction based business models."

In addition, this person will "seek out and incorporate feedback from the team, QA, and playtesters throughout the production in order to maximize monetization whilst minimizing negative impact on game experience."

Additional job listings seek developers with experience on real-time strategy and role-playing games, as well as first-person action titles.

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