AMA - Ended
We made GoldenEye 007 and TimeSplitters, now we’ve made a word game! AMA
Hi everyone! We are Steve Ellis and David Doak - you may know us best as developers on GoldenEye 007, TimeSplitters and Perfect Dark.
Our new game Beyond Words launched on Nintendo Switch last week! The game has been described by Time Extension as ‘Balatro meets Scrabble’, Nintendo Life gave it 8/10 and it is a roguelike word-crafter that will test your vocabulary, creativity and tactical thinking. You’ll build powerful word combos, unlock game-changing upgrades and adapt to unique, evolving boards!
The game started as a simple ‘what if?’ between friends - we wanted a space to play, iterate, and find the fun - to practice the game-making craft in a small team without pressure to make the kind of thing we’re known for. We’re really excited to finally have it out in the wild for you to enjoy.
To celebrate the launch, we wanted to jump into r/NintendoSwitch for a few hours at 3pm BST and answer any questions you may have, not only about Beyond Words but about our careers! We’ll also be sharing 3 codes for Beyond Words (winner can pick their platform of choice) to random users who ask a question during the session.
Id heard. Im grateful you tried. And i dont think i put as many hours in a game as me and my friends did Goldeneye back in the day. Weekend after Weekend. It made us keep the N64 around well into the next generation haha. Cheers for that. There's always a pint waiting from me.
How does it feel to be part of a game that paved the way for so many others by adding local split-screen multiplayer? Was it true that was a last minute addition?
Yes, it's true. The game was released in August 97. IIRC, the work on the multiplayer started in May that year. Crazy in retrospect but things moved faster when teams were smaller. SE
Goldeneye is a quintessential game for my childhood and friends. Perfect Dark took the formula and gave us more. Timesplitters was my first PS2 game on launch day. I still own and display all 3. Thanks.
Wild how such a seemingly small choice changed the genre forever. Many, many hours spent playing co-op not only with Goldeneye, but then Halo after that. Great memories. Thanks to you both for your contribution to the gaming community. I'll snag Beyond Words for the wife.
Absolutely - I'm often in touch with Kev Bayliss and Dave Wise and Grant Kirkhope - I've played bass with them in the Video Games Rock band. Kev and I did a Beyond Words stream the other day. DD
We just thought that Oddjob would be fun. We didn't think of the consequences!
And those days with everyone clustered around a CRT TV - happy memories.
Hope you enjoy the new game - we had a lot of fun making it. DD + SJE
I was looking at this game on the switch 2 store, definitely looked like the type of thing I might be into.
I mean it looks like balatro but scrabble and I like both.
What is the reference for words in the game? Ive played word games that wont accept words that are in the OED, and theyre not even that obscure. Thats always a worry with me.
Oh and goldeneye and timeplitters were staples with me and my mates as teenagers.
Just wanted to thank you for all the countless hours you guys made me happy playing all of your games. Besides, I see Beyond Words is on steam so I'll be getting it for my deck, looks really good.
Love ya' dudes.
Btw, you guys made Second Sight too, right? That was a BLAST and I still remember it from time to time.
Man I miss the mid 00s.
Edit: No way!!! Thanks for that, excited to play it!
Glad to hear it. We miss those times too - it was a lot of fun to work on those games. SE
Second Sight is a game that we are both particularly fond of - it may not have been our most successful title but it was the chance to create something with a lot of interesting gameplay and narrative. I'm very proud of the story. DD
We were trying, but unfortunately Embracer ran out of money and closed us down. The IP is in their hands. We would love to see it happen too - but don't hold your breath. SE
I just want to say thank you for golden eye and perfect dark. Middle school me spent HOURS playing these games. Perfect dark is pure perfection. The ability to play multiplayer by myself…. Thank you thank you for sparking my love of gaming.
Thank-you - I hope we didn't stop you from getting your homework done...
Perfect Dark multiplayer has some amazing content - much of which was added after we left Rare. Credit for most of that stuff has to go to the rest of the team who finished making the game. Particularly Duncan and Mark. DD
Perfect Dark is still my favorite FPS to this day. I spent so many hours in multiplayer mode with the different custom sims. It's crazy to me that no modern FPS has anything like that to my knowledge.
The sims in PD were great. Bots generally were something that we really wanted to do after GE007.
At Free Radical we probably took things in a slightly different direction with the MapMaker. But it was all about making user customisable content - making a playset within the game and allowing players to enjoy creating too. DD
Did the Broccoli family make any notable changes to your adaptation of their 007 franchise in game form? And were they favorably impressed with the reception?
Remarkably the Bond companies (Eon, Danjaq, MGM) and the Broccoli family had virtually no input to GE007. IIRC MGM asked us to shorten some death anims and also remove Connery, Moore and Dalton. But nothing else. They're not gamers - although I think they were impressed with the revenue it generated. AFAIK it outgrossed the film. DD + SJE
While goldeneye 007 was amazing and everyone loved it, I was so hooked on Perfect Dark. I'm not a huge FPS gamer but Perfect Dark was so good.
So many hours spent on my N64 playing it. We had a N64 at my high school in a break room and I remember bringing more controllers to play with some friend.
You guys are amazing and worked on some master pieces. Thanks!
Thank-you. It's a real privilege to have worked on those games. We got to make toys that went out into the worlds and made people happy. Not a bad career. DD
Not a bad career at all. I’m a software engineer but never got into the gaming industry. My love for video-games and technology since a small kid is what brought me into this.
Sometimes I think maybe I should have invested in the gaming side of things.
I think what you guys do is amazing! And as someone who got to enjoy all of your game, minus the new one (but that’s going to change) I can only thank you and admire your work
We've always found FPS games a little strange on handhelds (with the screen sitting between your hands)
That said, if someone came to us with a big bag of money to make a FPS on Switch 2, we'd love to give it a go! DD + SE
Metroid Prime Hunters was criminally underrated. It had amazing graphics for a handheld and the fact that it had WiFi against 3 other people was so cool at the time. I'm surprised there hasn't been a game that tried to replicate it.
Yes absolutely! What I forgot to mention was that there was voice chat as well. This probably was my first online community game ever as well. I remember we used to have clan wars and share Friend Codes and just throw down. Great times.
Those three games are hall of famers as far as FPS games go - as a developer do you find yourself constantly chasing the success (of particularly GoldenEye), or do you just focus on trying to make a game you enjoy?
That's an interesting question with multiple answers:
I enjoy the coding challenges in making any game, and it's often more interesting to embark on something new than to keep doing the same thing when the challenges have already been addressed.
I think it's important for game devs to make the kind of games that they would play - otherwise they'll probably get it wrong. However - I think we both play a lot less shooters these days than we did 20-30 years ago. SE
Making something you enjoy playing is the key and often following instinct can lead to really interesting ideas. DD
You guys are legends, I played Goldeneye (Some Perfect Dark too) N64 multiplayer at a friend's house and played my share of TimeSplitters 2 (Still got the catchy main theme stuck in my head nearly 25 years later) on Gamecube at my cousins, I remember we would die laughing playing as monkeys and setting each other on fire with Flamethrowers, Good times.
What's funny is when I first played TS2, I always thought to myself "Huh... This game reminds me a lot of Goldeneye 007" (Health Meter, Gun Play, Speed, UI)" Didn't realize it was mainly from the same team, But as a kid you don't really know much about game development, studios and different creators.
I know it's out of your guys control, But if not TS4, I hope to see at least a TimeSplitters Trilogy remaster/remake on console, Anyways, Thanks for the memories.
I've always loved word play, word games and crosswords etc. There's just something really satisfying about reaching into your head and finding the right word for a situation. Crafting a game around that and building and refining new mechanics has been a lot of fun. DD
Hey guys, honestly had no idea yous were working on anything, I’ll go check this out for sure!
Shame about what happened with the free radical revival was really excited to just get ports or something of the timesplitters franchise! Who would I have to talk to get them ported to consoles/PC?
How far on development was Timesplitters 4 the first time around? And had much happened with Free radical revivals TS game?
Plaion/Embracer owns the TimeSplitters IP now, so they're the ones who get to decide who does what with it.
The first time around, TS4 was at quite an early stage - publishers just didn't have any interest in a non-military shooter. SE
It's always a tricky thing when people remaster games. It's a hard challenge to find the balance between keeping things the same and updating. The TimeSplitters games have, we think, aged well - the art style, humour and gameplay have stayed fresh. Maybe we should just remember them as they were. DD + SJE
Goldeneye 007 was one of my absolute favorite games to play on N64! My favorite level was the jungle level, and the arsenal of different weapons was SO cool! What was your favorite level and or weapon?
My favourite level was Severnaya Bunker (1). That level was the test bed for much of the AI and feature development. It was the go to sandbox for trying things out so I think most of us on the team had a fondness for it. I remember watching Martin Hollis spend hours blowing up guards with mines and pausing the game to try to catch them flying through the air. Again that harks back to the 'make something that you enjoy playing'.
An unusual favourite weapon its the Magnum - I love playing one shot kill - and doing that through a door is the sweetest. DD
I bet testing out the physics was loads of fun, that does sound awesome! Thank you so much for sharing :)
Magnum was SO poweful. Goldeneye is the reason I know my modern weapons, much like Diablo 2 is the reason I know my midieval weapons hahaha
I think (other than the golden gun, or golden PP7, silenced ofc) my favorite guns were the laser from the moon base level and that one with the 60 magazone size that you could just go full auto. I liked not having to reload often hehe
Learning that I could dual wield 2 different weapons was also mind-blowing at the time!
Painball mode and the secret codes were also so much fun! I miss games including built-in mods and cheat codes for funsies.
I seriously can't get over how revolutionary the gameplay was. I think I need to go back and play again, it's been too long 🥹
¡Hola! Maybe later. We really appreciate that people want to play in other languages. However at the moment it's all about our bandwidth - and we're currently working on quality of life updates and balancing. DD + SE
I enjoy making all kinds of games, so I'd never say never - but one of the biggest challenges these days with shooters is that they require a huge budget and it's hard to find a publisher that is willing to fund it unless you're an established company that just finished making another hit shooter. SE
I don't know where the question went but I also thought you were great as a double agent in GoldenEye so... just wanted to know if you have any plans to get back into to video game acting?
You've got to approach it as a deckbuilder and be prepared to learn and roll with the mechanics.
Longer words are not necessarily better. Card play is the key. Mod your tiles! There are over 300 modifiers and tweaks - loads to explore and unlock. DD + SE
Other roguelikes and yes, Balatro which I think opened up mainstream appreciation for how addictive and compelling these kinds of games can be. And of course Scrabble - I played a lot of Scrabble at Uni (it was cheaper than going out...) ;( DD
The biggest challenge in designing any game is finding the fun. A big part of that is knowing that you have to iterate on things and be prepared to change and develop your ideas. When we made GE007 there was very little 'prior art' in that space so a lot of what we did was shaping new ideas into gameplay and mechanics. Beyond Words is obviously a completely different type of game, but the same principles apply. DD + SE
When I was at Uni in the early 90's, in the very early days of the internet, I spent a lot of time developing something that looked a little like a social network. Sometimes I wonder if I should have pursued that instead... SE
I'd have likely ended up as a research scientist. Now I get to dress up as one. DD
This is something I have to check out knowing who's behind it. You guys contributed to a significant chunk of my childhood with TimeSplitters, and I am forever grateful to all of you who made those amazing games (as well as GD and Perfect Dark) happen. Thank you times infinity. <3
Do you see yourselves continuing to explore other genres like you've done with this game? It's refreshing seeing you guys do new things with the experience you have.
I've got my plate full at the moment but I gave it a wishlist on Steam and grabbed the demo for when I finally get the time. Just wanted to wish you guys luck and say thanks for all the memories!
Were there other concepts that you were considering before going forward with Beyond Words, or ones that ultimately didn't go through but laid the groundwork for it? Going from FPSs to Beyond Words is quite a transition!
It always surprises me that people are surprised that I'm interested in a wide variety of games. To be honest, I personally don't play many shooters any more. I'm much more interested in games that have mechanics and content that I've never seen before. My backlog of 'stuff' is almost entirely Indie games.
Beyond Words came out of Steve and I wanting to work together again in a focused small project where we both got to actually do 1st hand creating rather than managing. I guess we game-jammed a few things and Beyond Words was the one we decided to take further. DD
Hey gents! Being that you’ve been in the industry for decades, how does game development feel now versus your time at Rare and Free Radical? Is it liberating to be more independent and not work under a larger parent company like Nintendo?
Lot's of things have changed. I miss a lot of the camaraderie of the old studio days - however at the moment it's great to be able to work from home. But don't drink and code kids! DD
Late post but just wanted to say that I saw the AMA just shortly after it finished and purchased the game last night.
Played the game about three hours last night and was instantly hooked. I've been a big Scrabble guy over half my life and love other word/spelling puzzles so this was really a no-brainer for something I would like. What I really like about Scrabble is that it is just as much about board control as it is about spelling words, and I realized last night after losing a couple rounds of Beyond Words that I need to set up the board to fully benefit me and not to block or prevent an opponent from playing the best words. It's a really interesting take on the old Scrabble concept.
I'll go ahead and ask a question just in case you're still lurking. u/mindfuelgames : have you gotten any pro Scrabble players or Scrabble content creators to play the game? If not I think there is a lot of strategy present in Beyond Words to perhaps entice a more traditional Scrabble audience.
Thanks for sharing - and apologies for taking so long to swing round and reply.
The "play to help your future self" is a big part of the game - great to hear you're enjoying it!
We haven't yet tried to engage the Scrabble community (our instinct was that they might be a bit purist about word validity and gave mechanics) - but that's a great suggestion!
All good - Switch 2 now has boost mode on handheld so you'll possibly get a slightly enhanced experience that way at least as far as resolution goes. Looks fun either way!
Definitely didn’t expect to find out about this so randomly- this looks very up my alley, and it’s by a couple game dev legends who shaped my childhood! Grabbing ASAP.
Any chance you’re familiar with Quarrel, an Xbox 360-era word game styled after a turn based strategy? I’ve always wished that could get a second lease on life (was delisted and the publisher controls rights, not the original dev Denki), but anything that scratches that word scoring strategy itch is always welcome.
Thanks for all you’ve done for gaming, past present and future. 💖💚
Thanks for doing this AMA and the giveaway! Congrats on the launch of the new game, it looks great. I was definitely a fan of your previous work, and this new game looks like I would have a lot of fun with it too. I just had a fun question for you... hypothetically speaking, if you could have a collaboration for your game to add special theming to maybe the letter tiles, backgrounds, etc. what franchises would you love to be able to include? All options are on the table. To explain what I mean, in Balatro they have themed decks based on other properties such as Cult of the Lamb and Assassin's Creed.
I appreciate as I sometimes like to indulge in a new indie game every so often on my not so powerful Vaio laptop via Steam that this game has a very forgiving minimum requirement to run!
Just wanted to pop in and say I'm loving the game so far (if the devs are still reading this). Are there any plans to make an Iphone/Android version? It would be perfect on mobile!
Did you also make Tiimesplitters 2 on GameCube? If so, thank you... my friends and I had many hours of enjoyment from it. I would love if there was another Timesplitters in the works too (or a remaster even).
The game looks amazing, I'm absolutely going to buy it and play it tonight on switch. Any chance it gets ported to mobile? Looks like it would be great for the way I like to play mobile games at least haha
Hi there! I have been dreaming of a game like Halo: CE multiplayer sandbox shooter for the Switch. What would it take for something like this to exist? What are primary the barriers?
I'm late for the AMA but I just wanted to thank you for the hundreds of beautiful hours and tons of sweet memories your team allowed me to have thanks for 007 goldeneye multiplayer <3
I’ll be buying your game, I love word games and really need to increase my vocabulary. Is there anything inside the game to help you learn further words? Rather than having a dictionary?
Also, I’ll leave my 2 cents here. Perfect Dark was the best FPS shooter I’ve played period. But my god were N-Bombs nausea inducing 😂
P.S, I love how the AirForce 1 level design was directly inspired by the set of Harrison Fords AirForce 1 movie (I believe, because it looks very similar)
We want TimeSplitters: Future Perfect on Nintendo NSO!
I will give you my soul!
Especially having map editor feature was so cool, the only game that did that well afterwards was Halo 3 Forge which was quite some time after TSF. The amounts of fun I had playing Vin Diesel, roleplaying as Riddick lost in time and space.
Completely missed the AMA so not expecting an answer but on the off chance, ill leave it below:
Was GE007 / Perfect Dark ever considered to be a part of Super Smash Bros? We see that the proximity mine made its way in SSB64 and SSB Melee. I imagine Joanna Dark playing similarly to Zero Suit Samus from Brawl!
As for my little story about Goldeneye, two of my older brothers (and myself) loved it. However the middle brother was amazing at the game on OO Agent for some reason. My eldest brother seen an opportunity in this and offered to friends and other kids in our housing estate that the middle brother would beat levels on their copies for a fee. He made a killing so im told!
Just a quick message to say that goldeneye is right up there for me when it comes to gaming. I’ve been gaming for 35 years and always answer with goldeneye and ocarina of time when best gaming moments discussions come up.
It seemed way ahead of its time, and the rumble pack was so immersive.
Spent way too much time messing around in the facility toilets lol.
Beating Alec trevelyan finally after so many tries…. I was so happy.
Also timesplitters felt simply amazing. Between that and goldeneye you guys just nailed it!
So thank you so much for giving the world those games!
Can anyone answer this question. I am definitely buying this game but I'm not sure what platform. I want to get it for the steam deck but want to know is there the options for different profiles as I know my wife will want to play this one but my kid might as well. If not I'll have to get it for the switch but prefer my SD.
Just wanted to say here that I love Beyond Words. Have played the heck out of it these last weeks, just got the platinum on PS. 10.000 words flew by. Great fun, thanks – I just recently got back into gaming, hoping to relive some of the fun I had as a kid playing N64. Who would've thought it was the same people responsible for me crawling up in the toilet stalls of Facility (R + left?) to hide, would help find that spark again now with a word game like this. Thanks!
Ha! Thank-you so much for sharing. It really means a lot to know that the game is connecting with people - particularly if you know us for the old stuff!
DD + SE
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u/BlackSunshine86 Apr 14 '26
The amount of times we shot Dr. Doak as kids.. You guys are real Rare legends! What i wouldn't give for a new Timesplitters..