Fans of storytelling in video games and interesting, unique experiences should keep an eye out as the esteemed production company Annapurna Pictures is branching out from film to video games. It was announced today that Annapurna Interactive will be the new gaming division for the studio, in charge of producing and publishing video games. The studio “will focus on developing personal, emotional, and original games that push the boundaries of interactive content and encourage artists to bring new visions to the medium.”
The first two games they will publish will be Giant Sparrow’s What Remains of Edith Finch and Jason Roberts’ Gorogoa. The former focuses on the Finch family and collects a group of short stories all with their own gameplay mechanics and aesthetic design. Meanwhile, Gorogoa is a story within a puzzle where players move pieces of a grid as though they are maneuvering paintings around on a wall. Both games sound unique and interesting, which fits with Annapurna Interactive’s mantra.
They are also lining up to release projects from Funomena and Keita Takahashi (Katamari Damacy), and Mountains, which is being led by Ken Wong who worked on Monument Valley. So already Annapurna Interactive is setting out to make a splash in this indie game scene. For those unaware, Annapurna Pictures is responsible for the release of this year’s 20th Century Women, Sausage Party, Everybody Wants Some!!, and Wiener-Dog. They are also releasing films like The Bad Batch in 2017, and an untitled project from Kathryn Bigelow (whose Zero Dark Thirty was also released by them).
I am pretty excited about all of this as Annapurna Pictures has had a pretty great track record since its inception, and the projects lined up at Annapurna Interactive sound just as enticing. Let us know in the comments below what you think of the film company branching out into video games.
Source: Annapurna Pictures Press Release