Description
Paladins once looked like it could become one of the biggest games in the world.
It had millions of players, a thriving esports scene, and was competing head-to-head with one of gaming's biggest giants.
Then... it disappeared.
In this video, I sit down with my longtime friend Garrett Martini, former lead designer on Paladins and someone I spent three years working alongside at Hi-Rez Studios, to pull back the curtain on what really happened.
We revisit the highs, the mistakes, the impossible decisions, and the behind-the-scenes realities that shaped Paladins' rise and fall.
And before Garrett reveals the brand-new game he's building with his own studio, we take one last trip down memory lane to tell the unfiltered story of a game that meant a lot to both of us—and to millions of players around the world.
This is the story of what really happened to Paladins.
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0:00 Intro to Garrett Martini
4:15 paladins comparisons to Overwatch
9:00 early paladins siege game mode
12:00 early card system
13:45 taking risks as a game developer
15:25 What did HighGuard Fail and what did you learn from HighGuard as a Developer?
20:05 Forever Games and How they’ve changed player appetites
22:50 investor preferences and which games get green lit
23:35 concord: what makes a studio decide to cut their losses
26:20 Hi-Rez unique approach to paladins development
27:12 How did Paladins decide its final game direction as a Hero Shooter?
30:15 Valorant’s Success in the tac shooter market
30:21 FragPunk couldn’t break into the market
32:07 how much money riot spends on game development
33:26 2XKO layoffs and downsizing
34:20 Rising thunder 2XKO roots
35:12 fighting games vs fps markets
38:00 Paladins Battlegrounds and Realm Royale
39:52 Indie Games are the Next Big Opportunity by C
40:11 A24 model applied to Gaming and Investments
44:58 the results of chasing fads,
popular genres, and Covid
46:18 Supervive and what went wrong
49:25 Paladins attempt at 17 Champions in 1 Year
52:00 Why do players feel the call to purchase skins and cosmetics in free to play games?
56:20 are games held to a different standard nowadays?
59:00 how do you develop an internal locus of control?
1:05:40 Which Paladins characters did you design
1:07:00 Frontlines
1:10:17 Damage
1:11:12 balancing snipers in first person shooters
1:17:40 Reasons to Rework characters?
1:23:07 Supports
1:23:45 Flanks
126:03 How do you start designing a character in a video game
1:32:10 Garrett’s biggest character design regret
1:37:08 Garrett blind reacts to OB64
1:41:00 paladins had a monetization issue
1:45:30 Garrett’s lowest moment at hi-Rez
1:49:0 how OB64 got removed and paladins was saved
1:51:20 paladins esports
1:55:16 Paladins 2.0? Would I come back?
1:59:05 Charles “butt thief” - encounter designer
2:01:10 Garrett’s New Game
2:22:24 How it works and what Makes It Unique? Smash Bros Meets Fall Guys
2:25:19 How to play “Punch Upon a Time”
2:33:00 Fighting Games Social Evolutuon
2:35:00 How did League of Legends come to exist?
2:37:00 when is it launching? How can you play?
2:41:00 closing thoughts
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