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Quantic Dream has partnered with developer Parallel Studio to publish Underneath the Waves, a story sport that explores the depths of the ocean and human grief.
The businesses unveiled the title on the Gamescom Opening Night time Stay occasion hosted by Geoff Keighley in Cologne, Germany forward of the massive Gamescom in-person exhibition.
Promoting
A poetic and narrative journey, the title was developed in partnership with the Surfrider Basis Europe to help the affiliation’s ecological message and actions to protect the oceans.
The sport is a single-player narrative journey sport that might be launched for PlayStation 5, Xbox Sequence X/S, PlayStation four, Xbox One, and PC in 2023.
Within the sport, the participant will dive into the depths of the North Sea to discover a transferring and poetic underwater journey in regards to the engulfing energy of grief. Set within the techno-futuristic 1970s, gamers will comply with Stan, knowledgeable diver working for an oil firm, confronting the isolation of the deep sea as he begins to expertise a wierd collection of occasions, far beneath the waves.
“It is essentially the most private and intense work we have ever finished as a studio,” mentioned Ronan Coiffec, CEO
and sport director of Parallel Studio, in an announcement. “We’re a dozen-member unbiased staff, and all the pieces we need to convey is poured into this sport, with a number of ardour. From artwork to writing, from sound design to know-how, we have all been fortunate sufficient to go away our mark on Underneath The Waves. We sincerely hope you like it as a lot as we cherished creating it.
To assist ship this underwater story, Quantic Dream has provided entry to Parallel Studio to varied skills
and inventive instruments similar to movement seize, voice recording, animation, high quality assurance, localization
and extra. This partnership marks the primary time that Quantic Dream has supported a fellow Frenchman
studio, each primarily based in Paris.
Guillaume de Fondaumière, co-CEO of Quantic Dream, mentioned in an interview with GamesBeat that the corporate was very selective in its option to launch a third-party sport. The corporate had reviewed 20-30 video games per thirty days earlier than lastly selecting to work with Parallel Studio. De Fondaumière mentioned the corporate supplied help similar to movement seize providers, and that helped Parallel Studio to be extra bold than anticipated with the title.
“In 2021, after we introduced our partnership with Parallel Studio, we could not watch for players
to expertise their work,” mentioned de Fondaumière. “At this time we’re thrilled to current Underneath The Waves to the world, a singular expertise created by a really passionate indie staff right here in Paris. We have been in a position to work carefully collectively to provide all of them the mandatory means to create a sport that lives as much as their expectations, and to appreciate their most bold undertaking thus far. We’re additionally very proud to help Surfrider Basis Europe, whose message and actions are on the coronary heart of the Underneath The Waves theme.
As a love letter to the ocean, Underneath The Waves shines a light-weight on the significance of ocean conservation, by means of its vibrant marine life and delicate messages shared all through the gameplay expertise. Parallel Studio and Quantic Dream are proud to announce a partnership with Surfrider Basis Europe, a non-profit affiliation accountable for the safety and enhancement of lakes, rivers, oceans, waves and coastlines.
“We’re extraordinarily excited as we’re going to launch the primary fully-fledged sport that we’re
working with a third-party developer from begin to end,” mentioned de Fondaumière. “It was a really fascinating expertise supporting the event staff and serving to them form the expertise they’d in thoughts.”
The businesses are very shut to one another in Paris, so it was simpler to work collectively on the undertaking.
Quantic Dream is dedicated to supporting the group financially by means of a donation and can actively perform actions to help the trigger throughout and after the marketing campaign. By way of in-game activations, cross-exchanges and inside actions, the 2 studios intention to amplify Surfrider’s ecological message and ocean safety actions.
“We’re thrilled to associate with Quantic Dream for the discharge of Underneath the Waves,” mentioned
Pénélope Giroud, advertising and marketing and communication supervisor of Surfrider Basis Europe, in a press launch. “For 30 years, Surfrider Basis Europe has been working to guard the oceans, by elevating consciousness among the many basic public of all of the threats hanging over them. The sport provides us an enormous alternative to teach gamers on its fragility, particularly by means of the influence of offshore drilling, but in addition on varied different subjects. We’re excited to assist the sport’s creators ship essentially the most correct and impactful messages and ensure they mesh seamlessly with the sport’s storytelling. We look ahead to its launch. »
Underneath The Waves will immerse gamers in lovely environments, the place exploring caves, wrecks and underwater wildlife might be key to guiding Stan by means of a collection of unexpected occasions, deeper and deeper into the abyss. Following mysterious manifestations of his reminiscences, Stan can have the troublesome selection of remaining misplaced within the depths endlessly or breaking free on the floor.
Quantic Dream is a artistic and unbiased online game studio created in 1997 by David Cage. The studio focuses on creating unique experiences primarily based on interactive emotion. His video games embrace Heavy Rain, Past: Two Souls, and Detroit: Develop into Human.
Parallel Studio is a French unbiased online game studio primarily based in Paris, based by Coiffec, Nicolas Bredin and Sébastien Renard. The studio beforehand labored on the award-winning indie sport White Night time, on Darkish Days, pioneers of VR narrative horror video games, and lately on EqqO, a poetic sport with a multi-level story. The staff engaged on the sport is just 12 individuals. It is coming to PC and console in 2023.
“Underneath the Waves takes place underwater and is about the fantastic thing about the ocean. It is a actually poetic story that questions us as human beings about how we deal with our planet,” de Fondaumière mentioned. “And that was one thing that actually appealed to us as we talked about how the staff needed to handle this essential subject of how the planet is in peril. We thought it had a common story that might attain fairly a large viewers.
As for the trailer, de Fondaumière mentioned, “We would like individuals to actually dive into the ambiance below the waves. It is a pretty gradual trailer the place you study in regards to the surroundings the place Stan, the character, lives underwater. There are completely different machines to regulate and navigate deep within the ocean. You perceive that there’s additionally a really poetic surreal story behind what’s on the floor. It is a story of grieving and surviving in troublesome circumstances that you could be face. It is a very deep story.
He mentioned that Stan’s remoted standing appears to be self-imposed, and whereas engaged on a routine upkeep mission, he begins to expertise occasions that set off a surreal resolution.
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