Temtem: Developing Massively Multiplayer Creature-Collection Adventure
We caught up with Crema to discuss Temtem: Pioneers' blend of creature collection, survival crafting, and real-time combat, its solo and co-op experience, and the biggest technical and creative challenges behind the development.
Introduction
Crema's story actually starts all the way back in high school, where our co-founders, Enrique and Guillermo, first met. They bonded over a shared love for video games and computers, often joking about starting a game studio together one day. While still in school, they took a programming class where they got to build simple, basic games, and that's where the development bug officially bit.
Later on, when Android launched, they decided to jump onto the new platform to experiment. After finding unexpected success on mobile with their hit app Instant Buttons, they were finally able to make that high school dream a reality and officially form Crema.
From there, we transitioned from mobile projects to the PC and console market with our rogue-lite FPS, Immortal Redneck. That experience gave us the confidence to take our biggest swing yet: Temtem, a multiplayer creature-collection adventure that completely blew past our expectations, welcoming over two million players into the Airborne Archipelago since its launch.
After the success of Temtem, our journey as a studio has been all about growing our team, expanding the Temtem IP, and exploring how monster-taming mechanics can elevate different genres. We recently took our first big spin-off step with Temtem: Swarm, a fast-paced bullet heaven survivor game that we just fully launched into 1.0 earlier this year alongside GGTech Studios.
Now, we're keeping that momentum going and pushing our boundaries even further. That ambition is exactly what led us to jump into a brand-new engine with Unreal and start building our next major adventure: Temtem: Pioneers!
Inspirations
It started the way all great ideas for new games do: with us getting absolutely sucked into Valheim and thinking, "You know what this needs? More adorable, battle-ready creatures." We looked at the survival crafting genre and realized there was a massive, Temtem-shaped hole in it. At the time we started cooking this up, no one had really successfully smashed the high-stakes, cozy-yet-challenging vibe of survival crafting together with the joy of creature collection.
The Temtem world has always been full of rich environments and resources, so letting players actually build a home, chop down some trees, and survive alongside their favorite Tems felt like the most natural and exciting evolution possible. During development, there have been a number of games that have had amazing success mixing the two genres, and that helped us be confident in what we were building as well!
Core Gameplay
If you think about it, survival crafting and combat have always been inseparable partners-in-crime. You can't really have a great survival game without enemies blocking your path and testing your progress. In Temtem: Pioneers, the wild Tems naturally step into that role. They are your challenges, your exploration roadblocks, and your ultimate rewards all at once.
By introducing a deeper, more active combat system alongside the classic survival loop, the two genres actually feed into each other perfectly. You aren't just fighting to survive; you're fighting to observe, understand, and eventually tame these creatures. Wanting to see what new Tems are hiding in the next biome, or pushing to see how strong your current squad can get, becomes the ultimate driving force that keeps you exploring and building.
For us, combat is where everything begins. When designing for Pioneers, our first priority was ensuring that capturing, training, and battling with your Temtem felt rock-solid, smooth, and rewarding.
Once that core gameplay was locked down, we looked at how these Tems could naturally fit into a player's daily survival routine as active partners. That's how traversal and gathering came to life. We designed specialized mounts to help you conquer every inch of the world, whether you need to run, swim, glide, or climb. When it comes to gathering resources, your Tems are right there beside you, boosting your efforts while you work. They are your loyal battle partners who actively share the load of survival with you.
Developing Solo & Co-op Modes
We've put a lot of thought into making the world wonderful enough for both types of players to be surprised and impressed. We’ve also worked on making the transition from one to the other effortless and seamless.
Solo playing emphasizes agency, mastery, and keeping one's own pace. Players enjoying the Downbelow on their own have total control over their world and their progress, and can gauge their skill against the perils they’ll face in this brand new frontier. It’s also the perfect way to enjoy the game offline.
Players joining others in a co-op group can expect cooperation, teamwork, and the joy of sharing every discovery made in an unexplored land. From building to combat, to gathering, everything can be done in the company of others.
To keep the challenge level across all forms of play, the Bosses of the Downbelow will react and adapt depending on the number of players present. The Downbelow has some aces up its sleeve so that every player experiencing it has to work to uncover its bounty.
You can enjoy both forms of play at all given times, so we hope our players try out solo and co-op to see what suits them best!
Challenges
It's been a massive learning experience across the board. On the technical side, transitioning to Unreal Engine 5 was a huge step for us, requiring the team to adapt to an entirely new pipeline and toolset.
Creatively and mechanically, shifting to an open-world design came with its own set of challenges. We had to rethink how players interact with the environment, especially now that you can zoom the camera in and out and view the world from any angle. Because players can get so much closer to the action, we couldn't rely on our past visual style, and so we had to create more detailed models and animations to ensure that both the Tems and the world look stunning from every single perspective.
What's Next
Right now, our main focus is preparing the early Alpha build for our Backers. We really want to start collaborating with our community as early as possible during development to make sure we're building the best game we can.
While our initial Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign is wrapped up, we've opened late pledges on Gamefound for anyone who missed out. Beyond that, the absolute best ways to support us right now are adding the game to your wishlist on Steam and the Epic Games Store, and, of course, telling all your friends!
