God of War: Ragnarok, Cyberpunk 2077, and Apex Legends are gloriously ugly in new art from devs joining "Blocktober" trend showing how games come together
Oct. 11, 2024Blocktober gives a rare glimpse into the early development of some iconic games
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It’s not often that you get to see video games when they’re so early in development that they more closely resemble messy amalgamations of cubes and shapes than anything you’d actually expect to grace your screen, but thanks to this yearly trend, we can all be given a glimpse into the unknown.
Santa Monica Studio senior level designer Jon Hickenbottom has shared an early behind-the-scenes look at Svartalfheim’s Nidavellir Port in God of War: Ragnarok, and the before and after is staggering. “It takes a colossal amount of effort from every single person to bring these spaces to life, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to collaborate together,” Hickenbottom says.
Meanwhile fromCD Projekt Red, level designer Bartłomiej Pyrko shared some screenshots of in-development level design for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty’s The Man Who Killed Jason Foreman side quest. You can see that most objects in the screenshots are just covered in nothingness – an empty grid texture envelops the basic shapes mapping out the room, which was done first and foremost to “determine the dimensions and general flow of the area,” Pyrko explains.
Another spectacular before and after comes from Respawn Entertainment level designer Aaron Stump, who’s been sharing some early looks at different parts of Apex Legends. One of them, from the hero shooter’s 21st season, shows an enormous difference: “I did one other iteration after this. Added in the bridge, some height changes on platforms, and some cover placement,” Stump says.
There are loads more examples like these to pore over on Twitter’s Blocktober’s hashtag, which are well worth looking at for some insight into the creation of so many iconic games. You can understand why most devs don’t tend to show off footage of their games at this stage in their development before they’re actually released, though – some might get a fright at how ugly they look – but it’s all a case of trusting the process.
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I’m one of GamesRadar+’s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield’s student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming’s news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you’re sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.
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