When Echoes of the End was released, the heavens opened. A rare, torrential downpour swept over Reykjavík for an entire hour — torrents flowed from the rooftops, and rivers ran through the streets. I was out on Grandi driving slowly through the deluge, and glanced over at the Myrkur Games building. A sole figure stood on the balcony, stock still, soaked to the skin, smoking a cigarette and staring out to sea.  

The moment was a mood. Echoes of the End is one of the most ambitious video games ever made in Iceland — a third-person action adventure with show-stopping graphics. But after five years in production, the release garnered a measured critical response. Its rating on the influential Metacritic review aggregator was a “mixed or average” 69 percent, with player feedback citing stuttering visuals and sluggish swordplay. Myrkur’s celebratory moment had turned into a process of course correction and damage control.  

“We’re just a small development company here on Grandi. We’re not some big behemoth.”

Two weeks later, I step into the bustling Myrkur office to find the crew in good spirits, sharing a meal in the canteen. Company CEO Halldór Kristjánsson is fizzing with nervous energy as we head to his office — not far from that rainy balcony — to talk about the game’s release. 

“It sucked coming out of the gates that way, for sure,” he acknowledges. “But we’re also seeing super positive reception to how proactive we are. People appreciate that we’re updating the game, and taking the feedback. And you know, we’re just a small development company here on Grandi. We’re not some big behemoth. So we’re delighted by the response to the pace of our changes.”

Patches incoming 

For a long time, post-release game fixes weren’t a thing — once a game was released on CD or cartridge, that was that. But today, digitally purchased games can be easily updated via a patch: that is, a bundle of fixes that are automatically downloaded and applied to the game. In its first two weeks of release, Myrkur released two such patches to address both the technical glitches, and the most common player qualms. 

“People complimented the game in many areas,” Halldór says. “But there were two big things — the stutter, and the combat — that didn’t land. Now, with those things fixed, we’re focused on getting more players to give it a shot. There are more patches incoming, so we’re thinking about nuance, and where we can slightly alter the experience.” 

Scanning mountains 

Echoes of the End is set in the fictional medieval world of Aema — a place that will look very familiar to Icelanders. Players pass through various beautifully rendered locations on their way through the story, solving puzzles and fighting enemies against a dramatic, detailed backdrop of immense mountains and glaciers.  

“Initially we weren’t set on making it so Iceland-inspired,” says Halldór. “But the game was made by a small team with limited resources, so we thought, ‘what do we have around us?’ And we realised that like Lord of the Rings used New Zealand as a backdrop, Echoes of the End could use Iceland. So for the past three summers, we’ve been out scanning, scanning, scanning.”  

Creating lifelike renders of nature involved going out to far flung locations to digitally scan them with cameras or drones and recreate them in the game. “The glacier was two full days of scanning,” says Halldór. “It was basically me and an environment artist sitting in the cold in our big coats, flying the drone along meticulous paths taking hundreds of photos and videos. We needed to get every angle, so the 3D mesh was really accurate.” 

Sometimes, this involved battling the weather. “Kirkjufell was another two days of scanning,” says Halldór. “Me and another artist took one side of the mountain each. But the top was always covered by low-hanging clouds. Then on our last 20 minutes of drone battery, on the last gigabyte of SD card, on our one available drone, it cleared up for 20 minutes at the end of the day, and we managed to do the entire top in that time.” 

Mindset and cadence 

The game also features lifelike characters played mostly by Icelandic actors, with Aldís Amah Hamilton (also seen in Katla) and veteran actor Karl Ágúst Úlfsson playing the lead roles of Rin and Abram. The performance capture took place at a facility on Fiskisloð, not far from the Myrkur office — a cavernous white space where the actors would have to imagine the world around them as they delivered their lines.   

“We shot over a fairly spread out period,” says Halldór. “Sometimes we’d change lines in a scene recorded a year ago, and the actors would have to pick up exactly where they left off, in the same mindset and cadence. So very tricky work. I have to pay Aldís and Kalli all my compliments.”  

The game tells the story of Rin, a hard-bitten warrior whose brusque, standoffish manner is unusual for a game protagonist. “Aldís had an especially tough job, because Rin’s arc is pretty atypical in the game,” Halldór says. “She was given the challenge of being kind of a hard ass at the start. That isn’t easy, because players expect to play as someone you just immediately click with and like.”  

This is offset by Karl Úlfsson’s Abram, an avuncular academic who accompanies Rin and chats to her throughout the game. “Abram was born as a necessity of Rin,” says Halldór. “He shines so well because he pulls out things that she wouldn’t ordinarily say. If we did our job well, you’ll grow to like Rin as you go through the game, and to understand their relationship.” 

Incredible feats 

The studio will continue to work on the game, listening to feedback, and releasing new patches. In the absence of a AAA marketing budget — often 20-40 million EUR, according to Halldór — he hopes that Echoes of the End will pick up steam from word of mouth. 

“That’s what we’re hoping for, and what we’re seeing happen,” he says. “People pick up the game and think ‘what a cool game from a small Icelandic studio’. And because the budget is vastly smaller than a AAA game, our success criteria is also smaller. Right now, the main thing for us is just to get the news out to people, get them to know about the game, and to give it a try.”  

As we wind up our conversation, I ask what the future might hold for Myrkur. Halldór hints that there are ideas floating around for future games — but it’s too early to say more. “I’m just so incredibly proud of how the team worked together to make this game, and the incredible feats they pulled off in terms of visuals, story, combat, and puzzles,” he says. “We have all this new knowledge now, and I think we’re incredibly well equipped to go into the next project we want to take on.” He pauses, exhales, and smiles. “But before we get into any of that, I think we need a vacation.” 

Echoes of the End is out now for PC, Playstation 5, and Xbox Series consoles.