The world of Midkemia was created as an alternative to D&D by Raymond E. Feist and a group of friends back when they were in college in the 1970s. Originally a role-playing game, Feist took the group’s ideas and started writing books set in that world. The original release, Magician (released in two volumes: Apprentice and Master), went on to become an international best-seller, and Feist followed it up with around thirty more books published from the 1980s to the 2010s, finishing with Magician’s End in 2013. The books have been translated into multiple languages, and tens of millions of copies have been sold. Yet, the intellectual property really hasn’t been used elsewhere.
Of course, 90s gamers might remember that there were a couple of Midkemia-set PC games – Betrayal at Krondor (1993) and Return to Krondor (1998). The games were well-received, with “Betrayal” getting several awards, including Computer Gaming World’s Role-Playing Game of the Year award in 1994. Since then, there really has been nothing. Feist has always suggested that he is up for having his fantasy world brought to life in games, TV, or movies – he is no purist – but nothing has ever come off.
A rich world to build a gaming experience
We live in an era where developers are crying out for fresh IP. Gaming is a broad church, and it can focus on everything from the distinct regions of The Elder Scrolls to the simple mechanics of a popular slot like Wild Bonus Re-Spins, but when developers have a ready-made world with a rich set of storylines, characters, lore, and magical rules, they can really make something special.
That said, we can point to a couple of arguments as to why we haven’t seen Midkemia video games. For a start, there is perhaps a sense that Feist’s work is now unfashionable. It came out in the high fantasy era of the 1980s alongside writers like David Gemmel and David Eddings, and there has been a decline in interest in their works among fantasy fans, who may opt instead for grittier, more modern takes on fantasy from writers like Joe Abercrombie.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Midkemia might be too big for gaming. Not in a literal sense, of course, but in terms of the complexity of storylines, timelines, number of characters, and so on. If you’re familiar with Magician, for example, which would be a natural starting point for any game, you’ll know that the action takes place over more than a decade, from the viewpoint of several characters (Pug, Tomas, Prince Aruthua, and others), and is not always linear in its storytelling. It’s not impossible to adapt – more complex stories have been adapted in the past – but it’s challenging.
Feist had tons of fresh ideas
Feist is not everyone’s favorite author, of course. And, like many of his peers, the focus on elves, dragons, dwarfs, and goblins had some critics claiming unoriginality. Yet, he also had some brilliant original concepts, including theories on the orders of magic, the creation of demigod-like Valheru characters, and a ton of unique lore. Again, we should stress that there were around 30 books and a couple of novellas; it’s a wealth of material.
Another aspect where Feist excelled was with the structures of the societies he built. He clearly understood and researched different Medieval societies to create, for example, the Kingdom of the Isles, which somewhat resembled England post Magna Carta, and the Empire of Tsurani, which was more like Feudal Japan, with citizens wrapped up in concepts like duty and honor. These are just two of dozens of societies Feist created with their own rules.
In addition, he clearly had an understanding of ancient warfare, including naval warfare. Books like A Darkness at Sethanon had chapters dedicated to large-scale warfare, including the tactical defenses of castles and cities. The King’s Buccaneer and Rage of a Demon King had large-scale naval battles. Feist clearly had a passion for learning about warfare to lend authenticity to these battle sequences. The blueprint is there for a gaming battle.
In the end, all of this is just speculative. We don’t know exactly why developers have not tried to get Midkemia into a serious RPG game, and it’s always possible that Feist himself has never seen the right opportunity. Yet, the “foundations” of Midkemia as a classic TRPG like Dungeons & Dragons make us feel like the gaming world is missing out on something potentially special.