Braid creator interested in making an MMO

Braid creator Jonathan Blow would like to make a massively multiplayer online game, though he has not committed to anything beyond upcoming PlayStation 4 timed-exclusive The Witness.

Speaking with GameSpot at a recent press event, Blow said such a project could still be an "art game" even though it would require a larger development team.

"I've thought about making an MMO, which would probably require more people," Blow said. "I could do an art game with a bigger team now. Because I have...by doing the smaller team you get more experience."

Blow created Braid alone and is working with six others on The Witness.

If Blow were to create an MMO in the future, it would not be an art game "in the same way" as Braid or The Witness, he said. Still, Blow contended that it could contain a similar level of creative expression to his past work.

Blow has spoken critically of MMOs in the past. At the 2007 Montreal Games Summit (via Gamasutra), he said that "MMOs are notorious for having relatively empty gameplay," keeping players hooked with "constant fake rewards."

Those eager to see Blow's take on the MMO genre may want to pare back their enthusiasm, as he said such a game "might come a little later." He also said that he would like to make a game that doesn't take five years to create.

For his immediate next project, Blow said he might want to do a game with an emphasis on community participation along the lines of Klei Entertainment's Don't Starve.

"That'd be fun," Blow said, noting that it would be a challenge for such a project, just like his MMO concept, to be considered an art game.

"It has to be an art game in a different way. It can't be an art game in the cinematic way of 'you walk in and here's the final polished expression that's very tailored' which is what [The Witness] and Braid are," Blow said. "But it can still be an art game in the sense that we're really going for something specific in the systems that we're building. The more experience as a designer I have, the more I'm interested in that part of it."

The Witness will be released in 2014 as a timed-exclusive for the PS4.