Breaks the mold; features characters who are ‘fully realized adults’
More and more often these days, we hear about developersbreaking from big studiosin order to be more independent. Nathan Moller, whose credits includeMass Effect,Scribblenauts Unlimited, andHalo 4, is the latest developer to go rogue.
His next project is titledEpoch: Return, the first game planned in the science fictionEpochuniverse. The intention is to design a first-person game focused on exploration and narrative. It follows a husband and wife team of space scientists who crash land on an alien planet and must find a way to escape it.
What makesEpoch: Returna unique idea is Moller’s focus on the narrative, with characters he describes as “fully realized adults,” and “a relatable married couple,” both of which he feels are underrepresented in gaming. Considering that gaming has its share of unbelievable action figures and one-dimensional sex objects, he might be onto something.
Epoch: Returnwill be launching a Kickstarter campaign next week, although it currently only exists as an idea with some concept art. I cannot help but feel like it might be too soon to start asking for funding, but perhaps the Kickstarter video will have more to show.
