Narrative director Drew Karpyshyn speaks with GamingBolt about Exodus’ choice-and-consequence mechanics, and its core Time Dilation hook.

Coming from a new AAA studio comprised of former BioWare and Naughty Dog veterans, sci-fi RPG Exodus instantly placed itself on the radar for many when it was announced back in December. In the subsequent months, developer Archetype Entertainment has revealed additional details on the game’s setting, lore, characters, and more, and those details have only served to ratchet up the buzz surrounding the game that much more.

Most recently, Archetype Entertainment shed new light on what’s going to serve as the narrative centerpiece for Exodus– Time Dilation. Throughout their long odyssey in the Omega Centauri cluster, players will frequently travel at lightspeed (or close to it), which will bring time dilation into the picture- the journey from one point in the galaxy to another might take days or weeks for you, but for the people and allies you leave behind, years, even decades will pass. Each time you return, you’ll be forced to deal with the unavoidable consequences of the simple act of making that long journey.

And according to narrative director Drew Karpyshyn – a veteran writer who’s best known for his work on the likes of Baldur’s Gate 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and more – time dilation will also serve as the lynchpin for Exodus’ choice-and-consequence mechanics.

Speaking in a recent interview with GamingBolt, Karpyshyn acknowledged the challenges of accounting for player choice within Exodus’ central premise, especially given its emphasis on time dilation as a core concept, before adding that the primary goal for Archetype Entertainment is to ensure that players “truly feel the weight of every decision they make” in the game.

“One of the great things about making games is pushing yourself to try new things,” Karpyshyn told GamingBolt. “We understand that properly representing time dilation, player choices, and how they interact to affect your homeworld and the people you care about is a challenge, but it’s one we’re very excited to take on. We’ve spent a lot of time and effort working out how player choice and Time Dilation will work in our game, as it is one of the core elements of the story and experience. We want players to truly feel the weight of every decision they make, and to understand the cost and sacrifice they must pay whenever they return from Exodus missions and come face-to-face with the consequences of Time Dilation.”

Every time players return from an Exodus mission, decades will have passed on their homeworld, which means characters will have aged, got on with their lives, and changed and evolved in ways that you’ll have to contend with upon your return.

“As a Traveler, you exist apart from the world and the lives of those who stay behind when you go on Exodus,” Karpyshyn explained. “Each time you return, you will see how the years and decades have changed your homeworld and your society. Friends and family, you left behind will have aged and continued on with their lives, changing and evolving in your absence. The effects of Time Dilation are inescapable, and you will be forced to confront them each time you return home, on both a personal and societal level.”

Our full interview with Karpyshyn will be going live soon, so stay tuned for that.

Exodus is in development for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. In February, it was announced that Certain Affinity had signed on as the project’s lead co-developer.