We recently got the chance to chat with Dave Lockman, Game Designer at Australian developer SMG Studio on the newest features, modes and cooperative play in Moving Out 2, the sequel to the wildly popular physics-based simulator, Moving Out.
Greetings and hope you’re well. Just wanted to say a massive thank you for taking the time out of your day to chat with us about your latest project, Moving Out 2, and many congratulations on the launch!
1. How soon after the first Moving Out did ideas for a sequel begin to develop, and how did you all react to the success of the first title?
We had so many ideas for the first Moving Out that it was kind of a no-brainer to evolve them into a sequel after seeing the reaction we got from players on the first title. The reaction was exciting as it was the biggest title we had developed to that point so the motivation to build on it was high and we started working on the base for the sequel almost immediately after wrapping up the Movers in Paradise DLC.
2. Are there any lessons you had learnt from the first game that you may have applied to this sequel?
Like the original game, we did a lot of playtesting for Moving Out 2 and are constantly learning but of course that didn’t stop when the game was finally in players’ hands and we could see what did and didn’t resonate with players. We found that upping the challenge too late was a bit of a turn off so we completely redid our progression to a system we feel is a lot fairer and fun for players of all skills by being a lot less linear. How we approached level variety was a big change as we wanted to keep things a lot fresher during your playthrough but always have that familiar Moving Out “grab and move” gameplay.
3. What sets Moving Out 2 apart from the first?
Cross-platform multiplayer was our most requested feature from the first game and getting that into Moving Out 2 was one of our highest priorities. We doubled the size of the game compared to the first with over 50 levels but this time you will travel across five different dimensions all with their own unique look, feel and ways to play the game. Each dimension has its own set of mechanics and interactions such as the portals in Middle Folkmore, drones in Pactroplis and wrecking balls in Snackmore. We spent a lot of time at the beginning of development working and refining all the new mechanics so that we could really get the best out of them.
We actually got some mechanics that were cut from the first game into Moving Out 2 that I’m really excited about like trains and slingshots. There are new score attack levels that act as a small distraction from the larger levels. We also brought back Moving In mode but this time we built levels from the ground up with Moving In mode in mind and because of that the experience is a lot more interesting. We also doubled the amount of movers with the original cast returning and being joined by a gang of new characters, my favourite is Naka who has a cassette tape for a head and a pencil through their eye.
4. How does the inclusion of dedicated online multiplayer shake things up?
Getting dedicated online multiplayer into the game was huge for us and we’re very proud about it. We feel it’s really going to open the game up for a lot more players to enjoy with friends and family, especially with it being cross-platform. The core gameplay remains the same and there’s nothing you can do offline that can’t be done online so you can play the whole experience with anyone on any platform anywhere in the world.
Thank you for your time, it was lovely to chat, and congratulations on the launch once again!
Moving Out 2 is currently available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC.
