Airborne Empire Developer Traces Game's Origins From a Hotel Simulator
The interview provides a direct account of how a small remote team iterated from a hotel sim to a full aerial city-building game, and how Early Access feedback shaped the final release.
Reporting from 1 source: Game Spark.
In an interview with Game Spark, The Wandering Band designer Zach discusses the aerial city-building game Airborne Empire, released April 18 for PC and Mac. The game evolved from a hotel simulator concept into a flying city that moves to gather resources. Zach cites influences including Frostpunk, Studio Ghibli films, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Designer Zach of The Wandering Band told Game Spark that Airborne Empire started as a hotel simulator, then became a flying hotel, and gradually evolved into its current form as an aerial city-building game. The game launched April 18 on PC and Mac at 3,400 yen, with a 50 percent discount until July 10. Zach said the team was influenced by city-builders like Frostpunk and Kingdoms and Castles, RPGs, and Studio Ghibli films including Howl's Moving Castle and Castle in the Sky. He noted that because the team works remotely, the Early Access period was the first time they directly exchanged feedback with players, which he called rewarding.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.