Quantum Break
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Microsoft says 'Quantum Break' coming April 5th, 2016
Microsoft first announced Quantum Break as an Xbox One exclusive quite a while ago, and it has finally revealed the launch date: April 5th, 2016. At Gamescom 2015, the company also showed off brand new gameplay from the title (below), which comes from the developer that created Max Payne, Remedy. Suffice to say, it looks beautiful and features a strong time travel component. The studio originally promised that it would have an in-game live action show, and Remedy's Sam Lake confirmed that's still the case.
Quantum Break motion-captures Iceman, Meriadoc
Xbox One exclusive Quantum Break features a hobbit and an ice-man in the form of Lord of the Rings and Lost's Dominic Monaghan and X-Men's Shawn Ashmore. As Digital Trends reports, developer Remedy confirmed the news after Monaghan inadvertently revealed he was filming for the project with Ashmore. It's unknown which role either actor plays, but given the nature of the game's intertwined connection with its TV show accompaniment, we may see the stars both in live-action and in-game form. Remedy's time-manipulative shooter launches on Xbox One next year, along with a TV companion series that comes with the game. As Creative Director Sam Lake told us back at Gamescom in his wonderful accent, how you play the game impacts the TV show, including alternate scenes based on the way you react to in-game events.
Take some time to watch Quantum Break's world collapse
Remedy released a demo walkthrough video on Friday for its coming Xbox One-exclusive, Quantum Break, featuring lead writer and former Max Payne model Sam Lake. While a good portion of the video is another look at a section of the game first showed off during Gamescom 2014, the new video expands on Quantum Break's story. Lake explains that, in the middle of the chaos of a time experiment gone wrong, a man named Paul Serene is trapped within the machine. Soon he re-emerges, only seventeen years older, ruthless and as the commander of a powerful organization that is willing to stamp out anything in its way – including his former best friend and one of Quantum Break's protagonists, Jack Joyce. The video, embedded above, also gives players a look at how platforming in a world where time is collapsing will work, and how utilizing Jack's special time manipulation powers can save him from being crushed by flying cars and debris. Quantum Break is set to launch on the Xbox One in 2015. [Images: Microsoft]
Amazon: Wii U game pre-orders up following Gamescom
With all the news that surfaced last week during Gamescom, it makes sense that video game pre-orders would increase at retailers like Amazon. As it turns out, the biggest winner coming away from the show is Nintendo, as Wii U games saw the biggest boost in pre-orders on Amazon (8.67 percent). By comparison, pre-orders for PS4 games rose 5.16 percent and Xbox One games increased 2.81 percent. The largest increase for a single game was 42.3 percent for Slightly Mad Studios' Project Cars. Bandai Namco announced a limited edition version of the game last week, which likely spurred new pre-orders. Rounding out the top five are Rise of the Tomb Raider (30.25 percent), Bloodborne (16.08 percent), Hyrule Warriors (11.77 percent) and Quantum Break (10.77 percent). You'll find the full list of the top ten games whose pre-orders increased on Amazon after the break, courtesy of MCV.
Quantum Break turning time and television
Remedy Creative Director Sam Lake took a moment at Gamescom 2014 to discuss the manipulation of time in the developer's upcoming adventure, Quantum Break. The studio that created Alan Wake is now tackling what amounts to a "superhero origin story" in the Xbox One exclusive that gives players the ability to stop time, using that unnatural skill to set up tactics during firefights. Lake noted that decisions made in the game will also impact the live action TV series that accompanies Quantum Break, which includes alternate scenes that appear based on how players react within the game. Lake also commented on the heavier concepts that arise in the game as a result of protagonist Jack Joyce's decisions, such as that of destiny versus free will. Quantum Break will launch in 2015, and was first announced during Microsoft's Xbox One reveal event in May 2013. Those looking for more videos ironically to stop and start about Quantum Break should find Remedy's entry in the myriad of trailers from Microsoft's Gamescom press event. [Image: Remedy Entertainment]
Catch up on the latest trailers from Microsoft's Gamescom press conference
Microsoft made a ton of announcements during its Gamescom 2014 press conference -- so many that we could hardly keep up! Here's a collection of newly-launched trailers that you might have missed during the commotion. Hit the break below for new looks at Quantum Break, Dying Light, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, and other upcoming games for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Quantum Break not impacted by Xbox Entertainment Studios closure
Microsoft's impending closure of its Xbox Entertainment Studios won't affect Quantum Break's live-action TV show, and both the game and show "remain on track" according to the company. The news follows Microsoft saying it "remains committed" to Halo: Nightfall and the Halo TV series despite yesterday's announcements. A Microsoft spokesperson told Polygon, "The news of Xbox Entertainment Studios has not impacted our progress and we're excited to share more details of Quantum Break at Gamescom in August."
Quantum Break leaps to 2015, major showing at Gamescom
Remedy Entertainment slapped a 2015 window on Quantum Break today, and it's planning to showcase the Xbox One game at Gamescom rather than E3. In a teaser video, Creative Director Sam Lake said the studio will present the shooter's time-manipulation gameplay for the first time at the Euro convention in August. Quantum Break's plot focuses on time, with themes of time travel and the threat of the very fabric of time breaking down. That story will be told both across a video game and a live-action TV series, and Lake says we can expect to plenty of crossover between the two. "There are a number of ways in which the game and the show interact," Lake told us last year. "That said, it's worth mentioning that we're not creating a 'choose your own adventure' where, very easily, one tight story gets watered down to many weaker ones. For us, this is much more 'one powerful story told many ways, based on your actions." [Image: Microsoft]
Quantum Break nabs Oscar-winning connection to Gravity
The developers of Alan Wake and the upcoming Quantum Break now have an Oscar in their midst, further raising their new game's profile in Microsoft's big multimedia push on Xbox One. The third-person shooter, in which unforeseen anomalies fling bits of the world forward in time, will have a companion television show and visual effects work from some of the recognized talent behind Alfonso Cuarón's boundless space film, Gravity. In a note on the official Remedy Games website, the staff congratulates Greg Louden for his work at London-based effects studio Framestore, which won an Academy Award last week for Best Visual Effects. According to Louden's resume, he oversaw shots of Gravity's computer-generated interiors, with a focus on the free-floating objects that surrounded Sandra Bullock's stranded character. The film was entirely pre-visualized and extensively animated, making it an even greater achievement in visual effects than it might first appear. Gravity was also given gongs for its director, cinematography, editing, musical score, sound mixing, sound editing. At Remedy, Louden is working not only on visual effects for Quantum Break, but on scripting and designing events as part of level design. The environment for visual effects is arguably more challenging in games, which are expected to display high-quality graphics in real-time and in a way that responds well to the player. And even with top-notch effects, the approval of players may still be harder to earn than an Academy Award. [Image: Microsoft]
Quantum Break takes the time to show a trailer at VGX
This trailer for Quantum Break from this weekend's VGX show gives us a bit more insight into the game's story. A science experiment gone wrong ends up breaking time, producing isolated anomalies freezing time in place. The end of time is coming.
Tonight's VGX lineup features GOTY in the middle of a world exclusive sandwich
If you plan on camping out with us during our liveblog of tonight's three hour VGX 2013 awards show, you can get a head start on the evening's activities by checking out the schedule of events. Among the noteworthy events for the evening are 12 "world premieres" for games like Quantum Break, Titanfall and Broken Age. Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime will also take the stage for a game demo during the show's first hour. Given that an ad for a next-gen Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition showed up today, it would explain the slot for tonight's Tomb Raider-centric announcement during the first hour. Those that are in it for the awards will be interested to know that the Game of the Year winner will be crowned during the early parts of the show's second hour. Additionally, the Best Indie Game will be determined near the end of the show's second hour and Character of the Year announced during the third hour. A few of the awards segments will be determined by fan vote, dictating whether the the Best Action Adventure or Best Sports Game will be announced in the first hour and Best Shooter or Best Studio award will presented in the third hour.
Former Epic president Mike Capps joins Remedy's board of directors
Mike Capps' summer vacation comes to a close today, as the former Epic Games president accepts a new role at Quantum Break developer Remedy Entertainment. Capps joins Remedy's board of directors and will help guide the growing studio of more than 100 employees. Remedy CEO Matias Myllyrinne emphasizes the need for experienced guidance. "Like any team, I think a good board is a combination of different kinds of skill sets, and different kinds of strengths that really come together. That's the way, in my experience, the best teams work," Myllyrinne tells GamesIndustry International. "Obviously Mike has a tremendous track record in the games industry. He's been very successful and has proven himself over and over again." Capps stepped down from his position as president of Epic Games late last year to take on a more limited advisory role within the company. Capps then fully broke away from Epic in March and considered advisory board positions at other gaming companies before settling on Remedy Entertainment.
Remedy couldn't make Quantum Break without Microsoft
Like an Alan Wake mystery, the reasons behind Quantum Break's Xbox One exclusivity are slowly becoming clearer. Speaking to Games Industry, Remedy CEO Matias Myllyrinne revealed that Microsoft's help has been instrumental in bringing the game to life. Without outright confirming that Microsoft is financing the ambitious project – half of which is a full-fledged television show – Myllyrinne said, "[W]e need to fall back and let the full force of a company like Microsoft see it through." "There's no way on God's green Earth that we would take on a venture like this on our own," he added. "We might have the appetite but there's no way we could." Myllyrinne says the game serves "a strategic purpose" for Microsoft, giving the publisher a unique experience for its new console and allowing Remedy to create something it wouldn't be able to otherwise. We recently spent some time with the Xbox One exclusive, which you can read about here.
Remedy's Quantum Break manipulates time and multimedia
In Remedy's Xbox One-exclusive Quantum Break, time begins to break down after an experiment at Riverport University goes horribly wrong. "The theme of the game is time," Remedy Creative Director Sam Lake tells us. "This is a time travel mystery with a looming threat of time breaking down." This narrative thread, one of many, is the wrapping around the Max Payne and Alan Wake developer's latest: a third-person action shooter, with cover mechanics that Remedy says is built on core strengths learned from the team's past development experiences. Tied to a television series Microsoft will produce and release, Quantum Break is a game that weaves its narrative through multiple forms of media. As players control two playable characters through the game's narrative, stories in the game and live-action series collide to help flesh out the Quantum Break universe. "There are a number of ways in which the game and the show interact. That said, it's worth mentioning that we're not creating a 'choose your own adventure' where, very easily, one tight story gets watered down to many weaker ones. For us, this is much more 'one powerful story told many ways, based on your actions," Lake adds. Quantum Break's episodic-structure is built around character's with the ability to manipulate time. Time breaks manifest in the game where the world begins to stutter, freeze and violently skip forward. Having been exposed to the experiment gone bad, game protagonists Jack Joyce and Beth Wilder, as well as Quantum Break's primary bad guy Paul Serene, are all gifted with time manipulation abilities. How each character decides to utilize their newfound abilities differs greatly, but players can help shape specific decisions and motivations. Though the prime narrative in Quantum Break won't change based on actions, the game allows for some deviation based on player choice by way of a system known as "junctions in time." "Your junction choices in the game are a big part of defining your custom experience in the game, and your personalized 'Director's Cut' of the television series. All of the junction moments are big, memorable moments with big consequences in both the game and the show," Lake says. Remedy, who proudly admits it draws inspiration from a melting pot of pop culture, says that the best enemies in action movies always come close to "stealing the whole show." Quantum Break's baddie, Paul Serene, has the most powerful time power: the ability to see glimpses into other timelines and futures. "In an action movie, you always have these scenes where the bad guy is planning and making his moves. In Quantum Break, you get to play the bad guy during junction moments, determining which future comes to pass." Decisions made during junction moments will reflect throughout the rest of the game, we're told while a live demo of the game showcases one of these moments: a characters stands in the middle of a crime scene and two ghostly copies of himself dart off in opposite directions, giving players an indication of where they can go to shape the way the scene plays out. Though it's not required watching to complete the game, viewing the live-action Quantum Break series will give players information to unlock further content in the game, we're told. What was shown during our meeting was an extended look at the same in-game trailer featured on the Microsoft stage during its E3 press briefing. In the scene, Jack Joyce and Beth Wilder search for a scientist with information about Serene's plot. Perhaps with his ability to see a betrayal in her future, Serene attempts to kill the scientist by crashing a drone into her office, but a time anomaly freezes the scene as the drone's explosion rocks the room. As Jack and Beth enter the scene they spot the scientist, flying backwards and frozen in the air with a terrified look on her face. The scene is gorgeous, with particles suspended in the air. Wood panelling from the scientist's desk are broken into pieces, surrounded by glass and hang like a painting in the middle of the room. Taking control of the scene is Remedy's Head of Franchise Development Oskari Häkkinen, who pushes through the debris, as Jack, toward the scientist. As Jack comes across flying matter, he swipes it out of his way much like Assassin's Creed protagonists push through dense crowds. The fine detail is immense, from splinters and large chunks of wood to minuscule shards and large surviving panes of sharp glass all being whisked away as Jack inches toward his target. With the scientist frozen along with the explosion, Jack uses his ability to rip her out of time. Grabbing her, Jack jerks her body toward his and eventually she wakes from the broken timeline and witnesses the chaos taking place in her office. "I'm not going to hurt you, but I can't let you go!" Jack screams at the terrified woman. "Something went wrong with the experiment. This 'zero state' is just the beginning and Serene is behind all of it." Soon after the exchange begins, the frozen timeline begins to degrade and the explosion continues throughout the room, nearly taking all three characters with it. "We're building on our two core strengths," Lake says, "we've taken what we have learned about interactive storytelling from Alan Wake and we've raised the bar much higher. And we're taking everything that we have learned about cinematic stylized action from Max Payne and, again, we've raised the bar much higher." "We brought these two elements together in one game, creating something that you could call the 'ultimate Remedy experience.'" Quantum Break is coming exclusively to the Xbox One sometime in 2014.
D4 and Quantum Break share 'time travel mystery' genre
Hidetaka "Swery65" Suehiro and Remedy Entertainment seem to be pilfering inspiration from the same muse, though handling what it extracts in very different ways. Swery65's Rainy Woods – which would later be retooled and released as the horror-focused title Deadly Premonition – and Remedy's thriller Alan Wake led fans and critics to compare both games to the landmark David Lynch and Mark Frost cult-hit series Twin Peaks. While Swery65's title ditched many of the similarities to the show when it changed its name, comparisons linger, such as Deadly Premonition's strange characters, mysterious setting, and a protagonist's proclivity for "damn fine coffee." Alan Wake also featured similar elements. Though these similarities are undoubtedly coincidence, it appears the Finnish team at Remedy and the Japanese team at Access Games have once again tapped the same creative vein for the theme of each team's next title. Swery65's D4 and Remedy's Quantum Break are completely different in look and gameplay style, yet they share a startling similarity: both are time travel mysteries structured episodically and coming exclusively to the Xbox One. Though completely separate universes, both games have themes focused on time manipulation. Which timeline would you like to explore?
Demystifying Quantum Break with Remedy's Sam Lake
There are still some unanswered questions about Remedy's Quantum Break, the studio's upcoming Xbox One video game / TV show hybrid. Questions are appropriate though, because we learned from Remedy creative director Sam Lake that Quantum Break is supposed to be a mystery. Specifically, it's a mystery involving the manipulation of time and reality. We used our ability to manipulate our E3 schedule to ask Lake a few questions about Quantum Break, and the resulting interview illuminates at least a few details about the project. Watch the interview to learn how the television show and game are tied together and to hear about Remedy's approach to storytelling in the new generation of games. And, of course, we couldn't resist asking a few questions about Alan Wake. If you'd like to try out time manipulation yourself, you can pause the video at any time. %Gallery-191140%
Quantum Break may cross paths with Alan Wake
Speaking with Joystiq, Remedy creative director Sam Lake hinted that the studio's Xbox One game Quantum Break may have a connection to Alan Wake. We jokingly asked if Quantum Break was really just a story written by Alan. He said no, but added that Quantum Break deals with many timelines and universes. "The way we approach these things is definitely kind of – they're connected in weird ways. And definitely for Remedy fans, there will be a lot of familiar things from a Remedy game." "We are definitely dealing with the idea of multiple timelines – essentially a multiverse – where many things are possible," he said. Our theory is that Quantum Break's season "cliffhanger" will be Alan waking up in the middle of the night, realizing that the entire game was just a dream. Our full interview with Sam Lake will be up soon.
Quantum Break live-action series comes with the game
The symbiotic live-action series produced as part of the Xbox One-exclusive "time travel mystery" Quantum Break will be included with the game when it ships, Remedy Creative Director Sam Lake has confirmed. Quantum Break continues Remedy's trend of using other forms of media – in its worlds and outside of them – to flesh out the universe of its games. Max Payne's story was told in pages ripped out of a gritty noir comic, Alan Wake brought the world to life in a short, live-action miniseries; Quantum Break goes further, Lake said. "Quantum Break is a lot more than a 'AAA' game, there is a top-of-the-line TV show that ships with the game. Both the game and the show are meant to be consumed together," Lake explained, calling the decision to produce an entire series "a logical leap forward" from its previous universe-building efforts. Expanding on the news, Remedy Entertainment's Oskari Hakkinen clarified that the release of Quantum Break will include the series, though neither Remedy or Microsoft would explain if the show would be included on the same disc as the game.%Gallery-191140%
'Quantum Break' from Remedy comes to Xbox One [Update: Trailer]
Quantum Break is a new game from Remedy, developer of the Alan Wake series, coming to the Xbox One, Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer said. The Quantum Break tagline is, "Time is the fire in which we burn." The teaser video opens with a live-action family preparing to leave their house, and a little girl with some sort of special power. The game footage shows a ship as it crashes into a large bridge – and then time stops and reverses. "The actions you take and the choices you make shape your experience as the story unfolds," Spencer said. Update: Don't believe us? Check out the trailer for yourself.
