By now, you probably already know that MercurySteam's Raiders of the Broken Planet is going to be relaunched as Spacelords and it's going to be free to play.

Yet, this kind of operation is definitely complex, and can't be covered simply by a press release. Earlier this week, DualShockers traveled to San Sebastian de Los Reyes, Spain, and visited MercurySteam's HQ to talk with the developers and learn about this massive change and what it entails.

First and foremost, we interviewed Studio Head and Game Director Enric Álvarez, who talked about a wide variety of topics.

We learn the concept behind the title "Spacelords" and the fact that the developer never considered loot boxes despite going the free to play route. We even heard that the game would be perfect for the Switch, but manpower constraints prevented the studio from porting the game to Nintendo's new platform (yet, never say never).

Interestingly, Álvarez explains how cross-play will work (PC players will be able to play with both PS4 and Xbox One players, but the two consoles will predictably remain separate), and gives his opinion on the possibility of having full cross-play in the future, which would actually make life easier for developers as well as gamers.

You can watch the full interview below, and stay tuned for much more over the next couple of days.

If you want to learn more about Raiders of the Broken Planet‘s relaunch as Spacelords and see the new trailer, you can check out our dedicated article.

The update that will turn the game into Spacelords will be available on August 23rd for PS4, Xbox One, and PC.