Shadowrun is a franchise that many gamers hold near and dear to their hearts. Last year, Shadowrun Returns marked a comeback for the dormant series and released to stellar reviews coming from Harebrained Schemes, a studio made up of industry veterans such as Jordan Weisman, Joe DiNunzio, and Mitch Gitelman to name a few.

Recently, I was extremely fortunate to speak with Harebrained Schemes co-founder, Mitch Gitelman to talk all things Shadowrun and the daunting task of bringing this classic franchise back into the spotlight for a new generation. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like behind the scenes over at Harebrained Schemes, what it was like to bring a classic franchise back, or want to know just who these guys are, this is an interview you can’t afford to miss.

Big thanks to Mitch for taking the time to speak with me and to Robin for setting this all up.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to tell each and every one of you to go grab a copy of Shadowrun Dragonfall when it releases on Windows, OSX, and Linux this Thursday, Feb 27 for $14.99. So make sure to run, not walk, to the nearest computer and grab it once it’s available.

Full interview after the jump..

Gamer Crash: Mitch, if you wouldn’t mind for the people out there that may not be familiar with you guys, could you give a rundown on who Harebrained Schemes is and also some of the studio’s origins?

Mitch Gitelman: Sure. It’s funny – I just went to our website to see how we describe ourselves and I found this little gem: “Harebrained Schemes is a small team of passionate game developers led by Jordan Weisman, the creator of Shadowrun, Crimson Skies, BattleTech, MechWarrior, and many other acclaimed properties. Founded in 2011, the Seattle-based studio is centered around collaboration between seasoned veterans and fresh talent.”

That really does sum it up for me. Harebrained Schemes is all about passionate people working closely together to create games that our audience can be passionate about too.

As for the studio’s origins – there’s sort of a matchmaker element to it. I had just left Microsoft Games and was consulting for Bungie. They were interested in mobile gaming and were talking to my old friend Jordan about a game concept he had for a steampunk pirate game. He already had a good core team of about 5 artists and engineers but he needed a producer.

Bungie wanted to publish it, so they suggested that the two of us chat to see if there was a match. Jordan and I had been talking about working together again for years (we collaborated on MechCommander and Crimson Skies at FASA) so it was really a no-brainer. We got together on a Friday and Jordan showed me his 3 slide PowerPoint concept deck for the game. We started work on Monday.

12 weeks later, we shipped our first title, Crimson: Steam Pirates. It ended up being one of Apple’s Benchmark Games of 2011 and one of Metacritic.com’s “Best iPhone Games of 2011.”

We had a ton of fun making Crimson: Steam Pirates with the team, so we solidified our partnership and Harebrained Schemes was born. Our next title was called Strikefleet Omega, and we were lucky enough have it named one of Google Play’s “Best Games of 2012.”

The team worked their asses off on both of those games. Then in 2012, we launched the Kickstarter campaign for Shadowrun Returns, and found out what real work looked like. Later this year, we’ll ship our other Kickstarter project, a digitally-enhanced miniatures board game called Golem Arcana.

It’s been busy.

GC: The thing that I’m really curious about is just how you guys thought to return to the world of Shadowrun. Was it something that has always been in the works from the beginning or was it one of those crazy ideas that someone comes up with as you’re all sitting around a table one night?

MG: That started in one of our 3am email conversations. I pitched the idea of doing a Kickstarter in late 2011 but Tim Schafer hadn’t had his enormous success yet and we felt like the platform was still unproven. So we decided to shelf the idea.

Right around the same time that Tim hit $3m – around March 2012, the publisher we were working with asked when we were going to make Shadowrun. Then, the next day, Kotaku ran an article about the games they’d like to see come back and Shadowrun was near the top of the list. The stars had aligned.

GC: So obviously, you guys went the crowdfunding route with Kickstarter which ultimately proved to be extremely successful for the studio. What was that like for the team, seeing just how much support you had from the public?

MG: It was kind of magical – the scary, Sorcerer’s Apprentice kind of magical. (And by that, I mean the Mickey Mouse version, not the Bruckheimer version.) The outpouring of positive emotion for Shadowrun was incredible. It’s a part of peoples’ childhoods. They sent us bagels and pizzas during crunch. They sent us encouraging emails. When we met them at conventions, they were warm and supportive.

And their expectations were high. Very high. And we had only about $1.1m in operating funds to deliver with. It was incredible working hard on something that you knew people really wanted but the sense of responsibility to live up to their expectations and not disappoint them was very, very stressful. For me, it was all worth it.

GC: For me, I missed the boat on the Kickstarter. By the time I was tipped off, it had ended. What really caught my attention though was the Alpha gameplay video you released. I had just finished playing through XCOM: Enemy Unknown so seeing this futuristic world combined with turn based RPG gameplay, I was hooked.

With that said, how difficult was it toeing the line between keeping the core values of Shadowrun and trying to modernize it for today’s market?

MG: From a gameplay and mechanics point-of-view, we didn’t really attempt to “modernize it”. It was more like “translate it” into a fun experience for a very different medium. In a lot of ways, Shadowrun Returns is a throwback to old school RPG’s – both Shadowrun and other classic cRPG’s. It’s a thoughtful, tactical, character driven type of game, and I think our design team did a good job of delivering on that. At the end of the day, for us it’s not really about “core values” vs. “modernization” at all – it’s about simply finding the fun and providing a uniquely shadowrun experience.

The real challenge came from delivering the tone and feel of Shadowrun to a modern audience. Shadowrun was created in 1989 so its vision of the future is different than the future that has already developed. We didn’t want to travel too far down the “retro future” path because we didn’t want the setting to feel gimmicky or self-aware. So our artists and writers had a big challenge – to channel the 90’s sensibilities without kitchy elements that might distract you from what’s cool about the setting. Judging by the reaction of the fans and people new to the game world, it looks like we managed to walk that tightrope.

GC: Looking back, is there anything about Shadowrun Returns that makes you just say, “Man, if we only had a little more time…”

MG: I’ve never made a game where I didn’t feel that way but, that was the real joy in making Dragonfall. Building on a successful platform is a wonderful thing. You can listen to your audience and react to their feedback in a measured and thoughtful way. You can listen to your team and give them the space to explore the ideas they had to “hold on to for later”. You can move your craft forward. We saw Dragonfall as our opportunity to improve in every area of the game – tactical gameplay, storytelling, art, tools… everything.

GC: For you personally, what’s your favorite aspect to Returns? What are you most proud of?

MG: Hands down, I’m proudest of the team. Although we started with a blank slate and the studio tripled in size during development we were still able to maintain our cohesion and our culture and have fun under wildly stressful “go, go, go” circumstances. I’ve been doing this a long time and you don’t forget an experience like that.

As far as the game itself, I’m personally most proud that I could heavily contribute to delivering the Shadowrun tone. As the Executive Producer of the 2007 first-person shooter, I was highly motivated to get that right.

GC: At some point in the future, is there any possibility of bringing Shadowrun to other platforms such as consoles? Is that something you’d like to see at some point down the road?

MG: We’re not ruling that out. We’ll go where the audience is. But we’re a small team with a lot on our plates so we have to be very careful about the work we prioritize. And we know better than to underestimate the work it would take to ensure a quality experience on console.

GC: In just a few days, Shadowrun Dragonfall goes live. Can you provide an overview of the game, how it fits in with Returns, and also some of the new features players can expect to see?

MG: Definitely. I’m really excited about Dragonfall because it reflects our growth and learning. We worked hard on the Shadowrun Returns Dead Man’s campaign and we’re proud of it but we see it as just the beginning of what’s possible.

The editor and game system that Jordan designed and people are using to create their own content is incredibly powerful but we really only scratched the surface of what it could do in the original. In Dragonfall, we’ve added to and really exercised what it can do.

To start, Dragonfall gives players a lot more agency. We’ve heavily increased opportunities for you to make interesting and challenging choices throughout the 12+ hour campaign. There are multiple ways to approach and achieve your missions and you’ll have an assortment of shadowruns to choose from while uncovering the main storyline.

In Dead Man’s Switch, you had a dive bar as your home base. In Dragonfall, we’ve expanded that to an entire neighborhood of characters for you to get to know and tap for supplies and equipment. And you won’t be on your adventure alone, either. In Dragonfall, you’ll lead a persistent team of shadowrunners, learning their capabilities while getting to know and trust them. You can then select which ones to take on the missions you choose to accept.

Like any good expansion, we’ve added a bunch of stuff – a new city to adventure in, a new cast of characters, new weapons, spells, and equipment, and the ability to save anywhere in the game.

We got a lot of great feedback on the writing and storytelling in Shadowrun Returns and we’ve worked very hard to create a compelling plot that’s fun to interact with. It’s been really fun to set our second story in the “Flux State” of 2054 Berlin and its experiment in “stable anarchy”. There’s so much great stuff to mine in the Shadowrun universe! You can find a bunch of screenshots and the trailer here: http://harebrained-schemes.com/shadowrun/dragonfall/

GC: Will we be seeing any crossovers or call backs to Returns?

MG: Could be. You’ll have to see for yourself. 🙂 But Dragonfall overall is its own standalone narrative experience.

GC: After Dragonfall releases, what’s next for Harebrained Schemes?

MG: As I said earlier, there are piles of great ideas to mine in the Shadowrun universe. The cyberpunk-meets-fantasy setting is ripe for all sorts fun stories and we’d love to have the chance to tell more of them.

Beyond Shadowrun we’re hard at work on Golem Arcana, our digitally-enhanced boardgame. It combines pre-painted plastic miniatures like Hero Clix with your phone or tablet to deliver a tabletop game that’s easy to learn and fast to play.

Golem Arcana connects the miniatures and game board to your touchscreen device using a Bluetooth-enabled stylus we created. The stylus, combined with your phone or tablet, makes record-keeping automatic and important game information at your fingertips. And the world of Golem Arcana is pretty cool too. Here’s a link so you can read more about it. http://golemarcana.com/world/

GC: Anything else you’d like to mention to fans out there?

MG: Yeah, you should definitely check out some of the cool Shadowrun stories people are making with the editor. Jordan and I have made some “Let’s Play” videos of our favorites and started a new idea called “Shadowlabs” too. That’s where we play community created content and give feedback to the designer. We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback on those. You can check them out, along with a bunch of tutorials for the Shadowrun Editor on the Harebrained Schemes YouTube Channel.

[This post was originally published on Gamer Crash February 24, 2014.]