Deep Rock Galactic Interview: Devs Talk Season 5 Deep Scan Mission, The Space Rig, And More (2024)

Space-mining co-op FPS game Deep Rock Galactic first introduced Seasons with Rival Incursion in 2021. Now, Deep Rock Galactic Season 5 launches June 13 to the excited shouts of 'Rock and Stone!' from many long-time fans of the franchise. Aptly named "Drilling Deeper," Season 5 looks jam-packed with a new mission called Deep Scan, where players dive under the surface of Planet Hoxxes into stunning crystal Geodes in search of valuable Mortkite Seeds sought by the game's Management in charge of the space mining corporation.

Of course, Deep Scan is not the only thing to look forward to in Season 5 of Deep Rock Galactic. The Drilling Deeper update also promises a massive amount of additional content, from the ability to replay seasons, new weapon Overclocks, new armor, and more. Game Rant recently had the opportunity to take part in a hands-on preview of Deep Rock Galactic Season 5 with the game's Lead Game Designer, Mikhail (Mike) Akopyan, and Marketing Manager Aaron Hathaway from Ghost Ship Games, including playing the Deep Scan mission. Game Rant also got the chance to ask some burning questions, with Akoypyan and Hathaway talking more about the Deep Scan mission, changes to the Space Rig through replaying seasons, and much more. The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Deep Rock Galactic's Season 5 Deep Scan Mission

Q: How would you summarize Deep Scan compared to other missions we've had in the game so far?

Akopyan: I think the surest way to talk about it is that it is a more freeform mission, like some of the older missions that we did like Egg Hunt or even the Mining Expedition. At the same time, we're also trying to combine it with some of the heavier machinery and these kinds of more controlled segments as well that we've been doing and later missions.

With Deep Scan, we are trying to find a middle ground between these more linear things like, Escort Mission for example, where you're escorting the Drill Dozer, which has a lot of this stuff in it, but also starts feeling a bit linear and doesn't take the best advantage of what our cave system can do.

Q: I think you said that any of the new enemies could show up in the Deep Scan. Does that include the Stalker?

Akopyan: Yes. I mean, the Deep Scan mission is the same as any other mission. The Stalker can appear in any of them if it gets elected into the enemy pool for that mission when you roll it. The same thing with the stationary Barrage Infector and also the Vartok Scalebramble. But the Core Spawn themselves, the Crawlers—those only appear with the Core Stone Event. That, of course, can also appear in any mission.

Player Demand To Pet The Drillevator

Q: In the ‘On the Horizon’ stream, quite a few people were asking if they can pet the Drillevator. Is that something that you anticipate will change, or not really?

Hathaway: Not if I can help it.

Akopyan: I think the character, Doretta the Drilledozer—that’s something that we kind of also wanted to build up, right? Because as we were playing with the prototype of the machine and testing around it, this was a machine that we had to take care of, we had to protect it. As such, giving it a personality and making it a little more sentient kind of made a lot of sense. Of course, in the end, even players demanded that they be able to bring back Doretta’s head, which originally was just left behind.

With the Drillevator, it's taking a much smaller place in the mission and is more of just like a tool. It's kind of like petting the resupply pod. This is why, for example, the dwarves don't really have a pet name for it, and then you have the shouts. That's because the relationship is quite different. The players are demanding it, but I don't think that's going to change.

Deep Rock Galactic's Season 5 Core Stone Event

Q: We saw a bit of Core Stone in the gameplay. When the seasonal event launches, is that something that can appear during the Deep Scan mission?

Akopyan: Yeah, and in any other mission as well. The Core Stone event is similar to all of our other previous season events. In Season One, it was, for example, things like meeting the rival prospector robots that you could then attack and destroy to get the data cells inside of it. Also, there was a prospecting tower that you could pull down Hack-C, a little hacking bot, who would be able to open it up.

In the same way, there is a certain amount of Scrip for each season that can only be earned in this way—by doing these events and bringing back whatever part. For example, for Season 3 and 4, it's the Plaguehearts that are dropping from the meteorites or from the Corruptor. It will not be, however, in the Deep Drives, just like the others.

Deep Rock Galactic Season 5 Space Rig Secrets, Changes, And Seasons

Q: And you showed me a bit around the Space Rig. In Season 5, will there be anything like secrets to find in the Space Rig or any more things to annoy management with?

Akopyan: Well, regarding any sort of secrets, those, of course, would be secret. Therefore, I can neither confirm nor deny anything like that. Of course, we do have new kinds of decorations in theme with Season 5, which we removed.

When you switch Seasons, by the way, the Space Rig will also change to the way it looked during that season. We've actually added a few extras to Season 1 and 2, which actually didn't have anything. We only started really dressing up the Space Rig with Season 3.

There's not going to be a new gaming cabinet or anything like that. We didn't do any of that stuff, but we are planning to add a few more assets, like props that you could change to in the PropHunt game.

Things The Deep Rock Galactic Devs Are Most Looking Forward To In Season 5

Q: Season 5 looks really jam-packed. What would you say are your favorite things or the things you're most looking forward to players seeing?

Akopyan: All of it. The thing is that it is a really big season. For me, I mean, I'm just very curious as to players’ reaction to the mission, of course, but also to the event. I can't really single any one thing out. I don't know for me. How about you, Aaron?

Hathaway: Honestly, I think I'm most interested in seeing people's reactions to the Stalker.

Akopyan: [Laughs]

Hathaway: Because we didn't run into it during this mission, that was just a matter of random spawns, but it can be a really distinct challenge. Other enemies are projectile-shooting and those exist already in the game, but an invisible enemy that stalks you and disables your shields is a complete sort of gameplay challenge. I mean, it is in a league of its own. I think it's really difficult, but also, I think it is a very fun difficulty and it makes a really distinct noise.

I can already tell—even though we've played in a very technical testing way—even now when I hear the Stalker, it’s like, “Oh, there's a Stalker.” I'm really interested in just, I don't know, seeing the memes and community discussion and response that goes to see that being one of the challenges you run into.

[END]

Deep Rock Galactic Season 5 launches on June 13, 2024.

Deep Rock Galactic

Platform(s)

PC , PS5 , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Xbox One

Released

May 13, 2020

Developer(s)

Ghost Ship Games

Publisher(s)

Coffee Stain Publishing

Genre(s)

FPS

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op

Engine

Unreal Engine 4

ESRB

T for Teen due to Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence

How Long To Beat

N/A

X|S Enhanced

Yes

File Size Xbox Series

3 GB (May 2024)

Metascore

85

Platforms That Support Crossplay

PC,Xbox One &Xbox Series X|S

PS Plus Availability

N/A