How seven Mount and Blade modders formed a games studio

Mount and Blade: Warband is a playground for mod lovers, with overhauls transporting players to Middle-earth, Westeros, or Star Wars’ galaxy far, far away. Arguably, though, its most significant mod isn’t set in some fantastical land, but in seventh century Britain. Brytenwalda is the passion project of Alberto ‘Ibidil’ Fuentevilla de Diego, a Spanish modder who transformed Britain’s Dark Ages into a mod, then DLC, and established an indie studio. When he began tinkering with game files in his spare time, he couldn’t have known how far his determination and passion would get him. 

Ibidil is a creative type, always telling stories in whatever way he can, and he found recognition in the modding community for his work on Iberia: Total War, the 2005 total conversion mod to Rome: Total War. Ibidil became involved after a community of Spanish gamers felt its nation was portrayed with too many historical inaccuracies; Iberia: Total War was developed in part to address these issues. Ibidil dealt with documentation relating to the mod as well as editing the battle system and organising the work of those modding models and textures—giving him a well-rounded suite of experiences to bring forward.

Like Britain itself, Ibidil progressed from Rome to the Dark Ages. This change came from reading about the fall of the Roman Empire, and post-Roman Britain. “It was a world with very defined dynamics, of small and warlike kingdoms, with kings who knew that everything played out on the battlefield,” he says. It was perfect for a game. Not many records remain from the period, hence the name ‘Dark Ages’, but this only empowered Ibidil. He loved the rich and complex history of seventh century Britain and wanted to bring the period to life—he found it a shame “names like Penda or Cadwallon were only known by historians”. He even translated the Canu Heledd, a series of early Welsh poems, into his native Spanish. 

At this time he was moving on to a new passion. Mount and Blade: Warband is popular among modders, with the freedom of the base game translating well to popular contexts. The game, with its medieval setting and focus on the exploits of the common man, chimed with Ibidil’s interest in medieval Britain. “It was as if TaleWorlds had read my mind,” he says. He saw an opportunity. “Videogames can make stories and history come alive.” Britain was ripe for the coding.

The freedom presented by Mount and Blade: Warband’s open world let Ibidil tell stories in a unique way. Playing games to Ibidil “means experiencing history in a different, more hands-on, way”. The obscurity of the Dark Ages made it the perfect setting for him to weave his own adventures. The mod was named after the old British term ‘Brytenwalda’, or ‘Britain-ruler’. As Mount and Blade: Warband is about claiming land for your kingdom, the name was apt. 

Brytenwalda was never intended for other players, it was “a simple mod, just for myself”, says Ibidil. He wrote a quest here, changed textures there, and little by little the fictional kingdom of Calradia turned into Britannia. But Ibidil couldn’t hide his desire to tell stories. He released a rough beta of the mod, and Warband modders loved it. An opportunity arose—“I wanted everyone to enjoy the Dark Ages,” Ibidil says. 

Ibidil was wise to the low completion rates of mods—the TaleWorlds online forum is peppered with blogs for mods that never left the nest. He knew that to succeed he couldn’t go it alone, so he tapped into Warband’s budding mod scene. Asbjørn Lindegaard ‘Adorno’ Møller from Denmark had been developing scenes and locations as a hobby, and decided to join forces with Ibidil before the mod’s first official version. As more versions were released, the team kept growing; Michael ‘Motomataru’ Richter from the US, Matthias ‘Phaiak’ Grohmann from Germany, and Marco Aurelio ‘Yeyo’ Balbás Polanco, Leyre ‘Elyllon’ Ramirez Erviti and César ‘Caesar’ Iñarrea Sangués from Spain were brought into the fold. Their expertise in modding, and history, made for a productive harmony. 

Thankfully, the rest of the team came to see Britannia through Ibidil’s eyes. “I remember first reading Ibidil’s post about his pursuit to create a historical mod about Britain in the seventh century, and thought, ‘Who is this guy?’” Adorno says. “I certainly didn’t think such a relatively obscure time period would make for a popular mod.” But as the blank spaces in the seventh century drew in Ibidil, they also captivated the others. “Almost everyone knows about the Roman era in Britannia, the legendary King Arthur, and the Viking raids on the British Isles. But the seventh century! What happened there?” Adorno says. As the mod developed, the players were brought into the fold, too. “Your own passion for something can infect others,” Adorno adds.