Hive Jump developer Graphite Lab recently conducted an AMA on Reddit during which they discussed different aspects of the game, including the game’s Wii U release. Hive Jump will be released first on PC and a Wii U release will follow a few months later.
Regarding online multiplayer in the Wii U version of the game, Matt Donatelli, lead designer of Hive Jump, stated, “Hive Jump already has functional local co-op, and we’re definitely planning on making the online co-op as robust as possible for the Wii U.”
“The Wii U version will launch a few months after the PC/MAC/LINUX version, so we’re going to take that time to make a gameplay features specifically for the Wii U, using the GamePad, as well as making sure the Wii U online play support is as good as we can make it! We would love to be able to support 2 player local / 2 player online, but it’s something we’ll have to look more into as we get along further in development.”
Regarding voice chat, Donatelli shared, “Voice chat is something we’d very much like to include, because we think good teamwork is critical to enjoying Hive Jump. We know that Nintendo is more of a controlled environment and didn’t encourage devs to include a lot of voice chat functionality in the Wii days, but perhaps that’s changing with the Wii U! Something we’re looking forward to learning more about when we get to implementing Online Multiplayer for the Wii U.”
Donatelli added that the in between the release of the PC and Wii U versions will be used to add some exclusive content to the Wii U release, including some sort of special game mode centred around the GamePad. Graphite Labs are also considering tossing in a few Easter Eggs that reference Nintendo brands, but say they need to discuss that with Nintendo first, to check if they would be okay with it.
Hive Jump is being crowdfunded through Kickstarter. You can contribute to the game through its Kickstarter page.
