Andrew Gower, who created the hugely popular and influential MMO RuneScape with his brother in 2001, has revealed his latest point-and-click style MMORPG, Brighter Shores.
According to Brighter Shores’ Steam page, the game is set in “a land of magic and mysteries,” and will feature hundreds of hours of gameplay with an ongoing story. It will be consistently supported, with an episodic release format adding new side quests, professions, and lands while moving the main story forward.
It will feature new character classes, with Cryoknight, Guardian, and Hammermage specifically named. The game begins in the town of Hopeport with players acting as a guard, and expands into the nearby Hopeforest to battle more powerful enemies.
It also features a range of professions to try out, including Fisher, Forager, Chef, Woodcutter, Miner, Alchemist, Stonemason, Merchant, Blacksmith, and more. Even more will be added over the course of the game’s life.
The game is developed and published by Andrew Gower’s own studio, Fen Research. His brother, Paul Gower, who helped created RuneScape, served as the narrative designer for Brighter Shores. According to PC Gamer, Fen Research said that the game has been in development for 10 years and that it will act as “a relaxing respite from daily life.”
Brighter Shores is planned to launch sometime in Q3 2024, which lasts from July to September. It will be free to play through Steam on both PC and Mac, but a Premium Pass will also be available for purchase. The basic game includes access to both Hopeport and Hopeforest, with the Premium Pass adding two areas, the Mine of Mantuban and Crenopolis.
The Premium Pass also adds the ability to create a unique character name without a suffix and change a username and provides access to unique armor dyes and player-to-player trading. It does not currently have a price listed.