thechineseroom's Dear Esther was a little indie title from 2012 that was, well, divisive, to say the least. Some praised the game as an artistic achievement, others derided it as pretentious, and others still questioned whether or not it even qualifies as a game to begin with.
Well, it looks like the developers next not-Amnesia project, Everybody's Gone To The Rapture, will be coming to the PS4... and nothing else.
"B-but, but, but muh PC gaming master race!"
Sony has been doing a whole lot to court indie developers recently, and from E3 to Gamescom, they've been doing their best to highlight the PS4's lineup of independent titles. It's an interesting way to draw in PC players who might be hesistant about purchasing a home console, and it's a cost effective way for Sony to secure exclusives (where a AAA title might cost millions, throw an indie dev some ramen and you'll have them in your pocket for life). We'll see how much deals like this actually help once the PS4's launch comes this November.
If I get a PS4, I'm-a-geddon this game for sure. What about you, GBAtemp? Do you have any interest, or will you be left behind?
(Side note: I originally kept writing the title as "Let's All Go To The Rapture" before realizing my mistake. I prefer my title.)
Well, it looks like the developers next not-Amnesia project, Everybody's Gone To The Rapture, will be coming to the PS4... and nothing else.
Rock Paper ShotgunTruth be told, I went in expecting to come away marking off days on my calendar until a period of timed exclusivity was up, but no such luck. When I asked if everybody who matters – you know, PC gamers – would eventually go to the rapture, Pinchbeck offered a brief, unfortunate reply: “No, it’ll be a PS4 exclusive.”
That’s a terrible shame, because the Dear Esther successor (aka, the “Thur Sesser Detester” if you try to say it five times fast) is looking terrifically intriguing. In short, you explore a small town just 60 minutes before some snarling cataclysm leaps from a bush and bites existence in the ankle to death. Various characters spend their final hour in different fashions, and you can either watch them search for peace in the panic or interfere by way of exploration and physical interaction.
I queried further as to why we’re missing out, and Pinchbeck was refreshingly frank:
“So the thinking went like this,” he began. “We don’t have enough money or production expertise to make this game without help. We don’t think we can raise enough through Kickstarter or public alpha to make this happen. We could do with production support on a game this scale. We’ve always wanted to make a console game. Publishers have bad reputations all too often. Hey, Sony Santa Monica are great though. We’ve met them a few times and really like them and their attitude.”
“Also, PS4 is starting to look very cool as a platform. All eggs thrown into singular basket, Sony Santa Monica contacted, everybody likes each other, lots of love for the project. Long dark night of the soul mulling over implications of shifting across to console. Mix of pragmatism and excitement about the possibilities win out.”
"B-but, but, but muh PC gaming master race!"
Sony has been doing a whole lot to court indie developers recently, and from E3 to Gamescom, they've been doing their best to highlight the PS4's lineup of independent titles. It's an interesting way to draw in PC players who might be hesistant about purchasing a home console, and it's a cost effective way for Sony to secure exclusives (where a AAA title might cost millions, throw an indie dev some ramen and you'll have them in your pocket for life). We'll see how much deals like this actually help once the PS4's launch comes this November.
If I get a PS4, I'm-a-geddon this game for sure. What about you, GBAtemp? Do you have any interest, or will you be left behind?
(Side note: I originally kept writing the title as "Let's All Go To The Rapture" before realizing my mistake. I prefer my title.)