Warhaven is certainly unique in the large product lineup from NEXON. The Japanese company recently released KartRider: Drift, which is just the tip of the iceberg of an upcoming pipeline that also includes games like the third-person co-op looter shooter The First Descendant, the classic multiplayer shooter VEILED EXPERTS, the Dungeon Fighter games Project AK (formerly Project BBQ), Project DW and OVERKILL, the PvP isometric MMORPG Wars of Prasia, and Embark's Arc Raiders (focused on PvE co-op) and The Finals (focused on PvP).

　　As hinted before, though, Warhaven is the only NEXON game to focus on visceral medieval-themed sword fighting with a bit of fantasy thrown in for good measure. Warhaven, created by some of the developers behind Vindictus and Durango: Wild Lands, throws two teams of sixteen players each in large battlegrounds where the goal is to storm the enemies' base by any means necessary, including siege engines, ballistae, cannons, and transforming player characters into powerful heroes called Immortals.

　　Ahead of the planned PC release later this year (via Steam early access), we interviewed Eunseok Yi, Game Director at NEXON Korea. Yi discussed the game's differences from For Honor, its unique mechanics, the studio's ambitions, and the excellent frame rate boost provided by NVIDIA DLSS 3, which will be available at launch.

　　How long have you been working on Warhaven? How many developers do you have on this project?

　　It's been 3 years now since we started. We have roughly a hundred developers building the project and so many more affiliated groups helping us grow in areas where we need the extra support. The number of the entire team is still growing.

　　At a first glance, the game is highly reminiscent of Ubisoft's For Honor. Was that a conscious inspiration for Warhaven, or did you have anything else in mind during the concept phase?

　　Many people think in the same way that the game might be inspired by For Honor. Considering how popular the game is in this realistic, medieval sword-fighting genre, I understand why players might come to that conclusion. But we didn't have too much of For Honor in mind when developing Warhaven. Warhaven is more of a Fantasy-based game rather than having its roots in a truly realistic historical setting. In fact, the team always wanted Warhaven to be different from any other game on the market. To know how to set ourselves apart, we had to study different ways to give a unique graphical look and style to the game, which resulted in "the combination of modern military and military, tactical looks" of the current Warhaven theme.

　　Unlike For Honor, Warhaven has a fantasy vibe that includes the support of magic. How important would you say magic is in the game compared to non-magic weapons and skills?

　　Most characters fight with close-range weapons such as swords, shields, claw gauntlets, and maces instead of magic. Very few characters in Warhaven can wield some simple magic; one of them is Smoke, who carries around an incense burner of magical fumes to heal allies with. We've also implemented quite a bit of fantasy elements into the game. For instance, when players want to install a mobile foothold; a fast respawn point; a carrier dragon will swoop down and drop it onto the battlefield. Yes, we also have dragons!

　　Can you also talk about the Immortals mechanics and how that fits into the overall design of your game?

　　Through Immortals, we intend to constantly motivate players to enjoy every moment of each match. Immortals provide players the opportunity to quickly gain a burst of immense power, to play completely differently than how they were playing mere seconds before; this adds variety to the situation they're in and also a chance to turn the tide in the direst of moments.

　　How many maps and modes are you planning to launch with?

　　We plan to add over five maps and potentially more than three game modes for players to enjoy. Our main focus is not on the quantity but on the quality of what we make. We don't want the players to get bored of fighting all the time in tedious maps, but we'd rather try to create long-lasting and classic maps and modes that players would want to come back to and enjoy again and again.

　　You said in another interview that your goal is to launch in Early Access. Why did you pick this choice instead of a full launch later on? Also, how long do you plan to stay in Early Access?

　　Yes, we're planning on an early access launch before we officially open all gates. The finer details are still in discussion, but the early access is aimed to be short but sweet.

　　Can fans expect cosmetic items that fit into the overall design of the game without any excessively fancy, colorful items?

　　Different players seem to love different styles, and when it comes to characters' looks, we plan on having something for everyone in Warhaven. We're aiming to showcase not only military-tactical outfits and themes but also European medieval armor outfits, non-European international traditional armor sets, and also completely fantasy-based designs.

　　Will there be regional servers for all continents (including South America, Oceania, etc.)?

　　Yes, regionally dedicated servers will go live in as many locations as possible; hopefully in every continent. One thing to note is that each match requires 32 players to begin, which is not a small number nor an easy feat. Because of this, sometimes it may be difficult for the system to match players of similar gameplay levels with each other in the region. In this case, players from different regions may be allowed to join the match.

　　Warhaven seems like the perfect fit for proper tournaments where clans or premade teams face off against one another and perhaps climb a ladder. Are you planning to support this competitive angle potential?

　　We do indeed have tournament-type events in mind! Although development for this particular content is still at an early stage, we are planning various types of modes and events, and also a spectator cam mode; these would all lay the foundation for potential Warhaven e-sports events in the future.

　　Did you ever consider adding PvE-only modes to the game? Is that a possibility post-launch?

　　As for now, we are not planning on adding any PvE content to Warhaven. Instead, we want to focus more on polishing and creating a fun, solid PvP experience.

　　Are there any plans for official Steam Deck support?

　　We're proud to be able to say that Warhaven was already playable on the Steam Deck during the beta test which took place in October! But whether it will be available at the official launch is still in discussion. Let's hope for some good news!

　　With the game running on Unreal Engine 4, did you consider upgrading to Unreal Engine 5 as other titles do?

　　We are extremely happy with the endless potential that UE4 provides us, especially now that we're more comfortable using it to its near-full capabilities. So, for now, we don't have any plans to move to UE5. Besides, due to the PvP-focused nature of Warhaven, our goal is to provide players with an in-game environment where they can play comfortably at higher frame rates, above anything else. UE4 can definitely help us in this aspect.

　　Do you have any plans to support ray tracing? What about NVIDIA DLSS 2/3, AMD FSR 2/3, and Intel XeSS?

　　We're still working on ray tracing implementation, but it's definitely planned for down the road. On the other hand, DLSS 2/3 and FSR have already been implemented in the game.

　　What was your first impression of DLSS 3 as a developer?

　　I was pleasantly surprised by the significant performance gains after the use of DLSS 3, which made me think that the title could aim higher and suit itself with more competitiveness. I look forward to seeing players' reactions once it launches.

　　How much performance improvement does DLSS 3 (Frame Generation) introduce in your game compared to DLSS 2 (Super Resolution) in raw numbers and percentages?

　　Based on the RTX 4090, at 4K resolution, we saw an 80-100% increase in framerate using DLSS 3 over DLSS 2.

　　One of the potential drawbacks of DLSS 3 is the additional latency due to the AI-generated frames, which could be an issue in competitive games. Does Frame Generation add significant latency in your implementation, or is Reflex able to cover that?

　　The additional latency may be a small price to pay. Nonetheless, the framerate increase from DLSS 3 is significant, so it's a matter of player preference.

　　Do you plan for DLSS 3 to be available at launch?

　　Yes, DLSS 3 will be available at launch, so stay tuned!

　　Last but not least, Warhaven already supports gamepads. Is a console release a possibility in the future?

　　I believe the characteristics of Warhaven make the title a good fit for console platforms. We definitely want to make it happen, so it is something we are always eyeing. No promises, but fingers crossed!

　　Thank you for your time.