Crimson Skies - Development History

Development History

According to series creator Jordan Weisman, the original idea for Crimson Skies came after he had completed research on the early years of aviation; the era and historical characters inspired him to create a game about the period. For their game, Weisman and Dave McCoy settled on a post WWI European setting revolving around the "knights of the air." However, a game with a similar idea came out then; Weisman and McCoy subsequently moved the setting to the U.S. and changed the concept to placing air pirates in a modern setting. From there, they crafted an alternate history to simulate the conditions that gave rise to piracy in the Caribbean in a 1930s setting. Weisman later said about the development of the universe:

Whenever I create different universes—MechWarrior, Shadowrun, Crimson Skies—to me, it's all about looking at 'What are the fantasies that excited us when we were 5?' And if we can find a new and more sophisticated way to tap into that fantasy Crimson Skies is just combining two classic male fantasies: You get to be a pirate; you get to be a pilot.

Work on Crimson Skies began under the name "Corsairs!". Development started for Virtual World Entertainment, and was later moved to a PC game when Virtual World merged with FASA Corporation. Although the Corsairs! project was shelved, Weisman and a group of FASA employees worked outside of business hours to create the Crimson Skies board game. According to Weisman, "The board game was borne purely out of the fact that I needed to get this universe out of our heads and into the world, and it was the best venue to do so quickly." Developer John Howard has stated that the board game was built to "showcase the Crimson Skies property, with an eye towards expanding on it in other ways."

When FASA Interactive became a part of Microsoft, Weisman and his team were able to start a new game, and work on the PC version of Crimson Skies began; the game was developed by Zipper Interactive. The game utilizes arcade flight mechanics, with the focus on action as opposed to a realistic portrayal of the physics of flight. The game's relaxed physics as well as its focus on barnstorming led GameSpot to comment, "Crimson Skies is very much based on a 'movie reality' where if it's fun and looks good, it works."

The Xbox game Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge was later developed as a first party title for Microsoft Game Studios by FASA Studio. Like the previous game, arcade flight elements were incorporated in order to focus gameplay on action instead of flight mechanics. Early in the game's production, developers decided upon a "playable movie" concept, but found that gameplay would be restricted this approach. Consequently, the game's release date was pushed back by approximately one year to allow the development team time to retool the game. The results of this extra development period include more open-ended gameplay features and Xbox Live support.

After development concluded on High Road to Revenge, the developers moved to work on another Crimson Skies title for Microsoft; development, however, was cancelled shortly into the project. When FASA Studio was later shut down, Microsoft retained the video game rights to Crimson Skies, although it had no immediate plans for the IP. Weisman's latest company, Smith & Tinker, later "licensed from Microsoft the electronic entertainment rights" to Crimson Skies. Although the company has made no formal announcement as to its plans with the franchise, Weisman has assured fans that there will be a new entry in the series.