XCOM creator Julian Gollop calls Chaos remake 'logical'

Re-making the classic ZX Spectrum title Chaos: The Battle of Wizards was "the logical thing to do" considering the game's popularity among players, according to developer Julian Gollop.

Explaining why he has decided to bring the Spectrum title to a modern audience, Gollop writes on his blog: "The main reason is that the game was very popular with its players, despite is many flaws, quirky bugs and poor graphics. So the logical thing to do is to try to improve it and bring it up to date with today's technology. I have, of course, tried to update it before with Lords of Chaos, and in a way with Magic & Mayhem. Although these were good games in their own right, they lost something of the essence of the original Chaos."

Gollop describes the original Chaos as a "great multiplayer experience" and "psychological game of bluff" in which players must decide whether the creature their opponent invoked in the game was in fact an illusion. He adds, however, that he has been "surprised and puzzled" at the requests from fans asking him to modernize the title.

Explaining why he is developing the title now, Gollop states he now has "the opportunity to do it and the desire for a change."

"I have been working at Ubisoft Sofia for more than five years and seen the studio grow steadily," he writes. "I was the creative director for the recently released Vita game, Assassin's Creed III: Liberation. I left Ubisoft in March this year, ostensibly on six month paternity leave to help my wife look after our twin babies. I decided that I wanted to stay at my home with my family for a while longer. So now I am on my own, working in my bedroom, just like I did all those years ago when I was coding in Z80 assembly language on my 48k ZX Spectrum."

Gollop, who is best known as the creator of XCOM, announced the sequel/remake to Chaos earlier this month. The game will be developed on the Unity 3D engine for release on iOS, PC and Mac, with the possibility of a launch on additional platforms.