Peter Kojesta walked so Dragonhold can fly

The year was 2013 when Peter Kojesta lay in a hospital bed following an incident that would change his life in more ways than one. Nursing a broken spine and an uncertain future, he began to dream of being able to move his body again. But it wasn’t just stepping out of bed into a comfy pair of Sunday slippers, nor was it even the thought of running with the grass between his toes. Kojesta wanted to fly.

Most kids dream of becoming doctors, firefighters or police officers, but not Kojesta. As a boy playing video games, he wasn’t just imagining what life would be like if he lived inside the screen himself; he wanted to create worlds of his own. From age 12, the goal was clear: he wanted to make games. It was following his accident that the dream would begin taking shape, the wheels would begin turning and the idea of Dragonhold was born.

Kojesta is not new to the industry, having started his journey doing contract art back in the 90s before moving into a studio job as the 2000s clicked over. Before diving into Exis Interactive's first solo project, he managed to amass an impressive resume of titles to his and his company’s names such as XCOM, World of Tanks, and Civilisation 4 and 5. After countless years of honing his craft, it was time to work on an original idea of his own.

Credit: Exis Games

Thankfully, Kojesta got back on his feet, enabling him to get to work on marrying the themes of movement and freedom with the long-standing and fantastical ideas from his childhood. All the creatures and monsters he’d conjured up in his creative cranium needed a home and Kojesta was determined to provide one. Gfinity caught up with the mastermind to hear about how he's making his dream into a reality.

At first glance, Dragonhold may look like your standard knight-in-armour type deal where you swing your blade at a host of unsavoury creatures, but on closer inspection, you’ll find out there’s far more to it than meets the eye. When Kojesta dreamed of taking flight from the hospital bed, he meant it. In Dragonhold, you won’t just engage in ground-based combat with monsters and fellow warriors, you’ll take flight on the back of a dragon and engage in a fiery battle for the skies courtesy of the amulet around your character’s neck that contains the soul of the mythical creature itself.

Running on a modified version of Unreal Engine 4, you’ll be tossed into a world where you’ll fight for survival and victory over your opposition. There are three distinct classes to choose from for both your warrior and dragon, so there’ll be something for everyone regardless of your statistical preferences. Not only that, there are a host of skins you can purchase and unlock to make your character very much your own.

Before you’re even dropped into the arena, you’ll be dealt a hand of cards to determine what sort of environment you’ll be thrust into. Each card will dictate game conditions such as the winning objective, the boss you’ll need to overcome, and even world states. If you’re super…lucky, you might be rewarded with a refreshing tsunami. It’s these cards in particular that’ll ensure that no two games of Dragonhold are the same.

Credit: Exis Games

What really sets Dragonhold apart from the rest is the need for players to wrap their heads around two distinct playstyles to achieve victory. In most games, you’ll need to expose a crystal in your human form and then take to the skies to destroy the connecting one above. So if you want to succeed in this game, you’ll need to be as much a skilled warrior as you are a dragon rider. You’ll get plenty of help, of course, as the weapons you find along the way vary in rarity and mods can be applied to improve their performance.

The hope is that Dragonhold will get its release at the end of 2024, but there will be no hasty scrambles to meet that deadline at Exis Interactive. The priority is quality across every facet of the gaming experience, which is why it’ll be on PC to start and a conversion to console should the game see some success. With the community’s support, Kojesta and his team believe the sky is the limit for their passion project.

While we've not yet had the pleasure of taking Dragonhold for a spin, it's definitely shaping up to be an indie to keep an eye on. From what we gleaned from the snippets of gameplay and behind-the-scenes footage of its features, this looks to be a title that's here for the long haul. With an incredible story of perseverance behind it and the support of a growing Dragonhold community, we're excited to see how this one pans out.