Though its initial reveal video looked quite simply sublime, Rime’s development hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing. Announced back in 2013, Tequila Works reacquired the rights from Sony earlier this year, seemingly leaving the game’s development hanging in the balance. The reasons for that turn of events is far from clear, but it’s now been picked up by Grey Box and parent company Six Foot, with a release now planned for 2017.
Raúl Rubio Munárriz, CEO & creative director of Tequila Works said “We’ve always wanted RiME to captivate players’ imaginations, capturing that feeling of being a child and experiencing the wonders of a bedtime story for the first time. We’re so excited to find in Grey Box and Six Foot partners just as eager as we are to make that vision for such a personal project a reality.”
As a reminder of what the game looks like, the GamesCom trailer from 2014 is just as gorgeous and magical now as it was then.
via Eurogamer
TSBonyman
Gorgeous, looking forward to hearing more about the gameplay as development progresses.
bunimomike
I’ve been reading about this yesterday. It would appear that there was truly zero game behind the trailer, as it were, and I’m guessing publisher(s) are feeling very wary of it right now. I can’t blame them either.
As a consumer, it looks lovely. Right up my gaming street. However, to know that it was 100% smoke & mirrors means a lack of confidence in the project. Can I assume that nearly all devs have at least some code running (pre-alpha) or maybe some well fleshed-out ideas when they release a trailer like this.
Meh. :-\
TSBonyman
Wow, i knew the gameplay details were scarce but had no idea so little of the work was actually done. It’s especially jarring when so many folks were hugely engaged by the trailer.
ron_mcphatty
That’s fascinating and even though we’ve seen that sort of things before (I’m thinking Killzone 2) it’s still a massive surprise that there was basically no game. I hope the enthusiasm for the trailer can be a positive thing and big motivation for the new devs, playing on our fondness for Ico as well as showing crisp, beautifully environments with mysterious ruins was a great move. There’s a nice box sat there, all they need to do is fill it with shoes.
bunimomike
What’s weird, fella, is that it’s still Tequila Works (same developer, I believe) so just a publisher change. However, a few years after the trailer and is confidence so lacking in what Tequila Works is beavering away on that they thought “sod that”? Doesn’t bode well but I’m trying to stay optimistic.
The things you’ve mentioned are spot on. It has so much charm and love put into the trailer that I’d like to think a full game could be fleshed out from such a concept.
ron_mcphatty
Huh, well that’s odd. I’ve got another theory then, with the flat textures and TF2 pastelly look common to VR Rime could once have been a VR game. Maybe Sony decided they didn’t want it for their VR lineup after slow development abd ditched it. At which point Tequila get their rights back and spend a wee while getting a new publisher and funding then release this news, unable to say anything about why Sony pulled the plug due to contracts and legal burritos?
Barc
Maybe too close to The Last Guardian for Sony’s liking.
JR.
There should be a rule against releasing trailers for games that don’t actually exist. Gamescon/E3 and the likes shouldn’t allow it imo.
bunimomike
To be fair, you don’t get to buy the concept cars at the Geneva International Motor Show but a bit more transparency would be nice, definitely. Even if it’s just along the lines of “this trailer represents some ideas we’ve had and nothing more than that right now”. We’d still be excited but a little bit more informed.