Developer Switchblade Monkeys has announced the upcoming release of its debut game Secret Ponchos, which is set to appear on consoles later in 2013.
Secret Ponchos is a multiplayer-focused action game that takes place in a stylised Old West setting, featuring one-on-one duels alongside all-out gunfights, and a cast of customisable characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, special moves, and weapon types.
Switchblade Monkeys is a new independent developer comprised of staff members with previous experience at companies such as Blizzard and Radical, and in a press release the developer described Secret Ponchos as “something of a passion project between a group of friends”, the game apparently being influenced not just by other video games but also by graphic novels and classic spaghetti westerns.
Yousuf Mapara, president and creative director at Switchblade Monkeys, said, “Instead of following a business-oriented studio model, we just set out make the game the way a group of friends gets together to form a rock band, and to see how far we can take it. If we make something we love, put our all into it every day and enjoy the creative process, hopefully we will make something others like, too.”