Dear Esther
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Still Wakes the Deep will pit you against unknown nautical horrors starting on June 18
Still Wakes the Deep for the PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store), the Xbox Series X|S and the PS5 will be available on June 18, 2024.
Historic UK Proms music festival to include its first video game concert
For the first time, the UK’s annual Proms classical music festival will feature a concert dedicated to video game compositions.
Popular indie game 'Dear Esther' is coming to iOS
Journey made a surprise debut on iOS this week and you'll soon be able to play another indie darling on the go. The Chinese Room says its exploration-focused Dear Esther will be available for iPhone and iPad later this year.
Dear Esther designer Robert Briscoe joins Valve
Robert Briscoe, artist and environmental designer of The Chinese Room's first-person interactive story Dear Esther, has taken on a job at Valve Software, citing a need to break away from "the solitary life" of indie development. "For the past five years, 90% of my days have been spent working alone in my rather pokey (although originally affordable) 1-bed apartment," Briscoe wrote in a recent blog post. "I think I need to be around people for a while; A lot of my energy and enthusiasm comes from being in the presence of people, sharing different ideas, methods and techniques, different views, outlooks and inspirations, and mostly by just being out of my comfort zone (which I have very much slipped into)." Dear Esther was initially developed as a Source engine mod before launching as a standalone commercial release in 2012. Briscoe was recently approved for a U.S. work visa, and will move to Seattle on March 20 before taking on an unnamed position at Valve's headquarters. Briscoe notes that his career shift will not impact development of the in-progress Unity version of Dear Esther. "The bulk of the port is done, with just some backend and scripting stuff remaining, so I should be easily able to finish things off in my spare time, plus I have the team of talented people at [The Chinese Room] to help me along the way if needed," he explains. "So things will very much carry on as normal with that." [Image: The Chinese Room]
Dear Esther dev ditches Source for Unity after unpleasant surprises
For the past two months, environment artist Robert Briscoe has been working to make Dear Esther run in Unity, rather than Valve's Source Engine, and he has some pretty gifs to show for it. He's bringing the entire game to Unity, six years after it launched as a free Source engine mod and two years after it launched as a separate game, also in Source. In a blog post, Briscoe asks the question on everyone's mind, "Why would you want to port Dear Esther, a fully finished game on a solid engine, over to an entirely new engine so late after release?" Thankfully, he also answers the question, with a bit of background information: Briscoe, thechineseroom's Dan Pinchbeck and Jessica Curry, and coder Jack Morgan made the 2012 PC launch game, and then the team split to work on their own things (Amnesia, anyone?). Briscoe outsourced the Mac and Linux ports of Dear Esther to two separate teams, which have since dissolved and stopped bug-fixing those versions. Another, native Linux port, is still in beta and looks like it's staying that way. Briscoe received a "huge bill" for the middleware included in Source Engine but not covered in the original licensing deal. The team wasn't aware of the middleware or its fees before getting the bill, and it had to pay for a separate license for each platform. "It was a big hit financially, which put us at a loss in terms of the Mac and Linux ports," Briscoe says.
Humble Weekly IndieCade sale: Dream Machine, Dear Esther, more
The pay-what-you-want Humble Weekly Sale highlights select Indie games and supports the IndieCade Foundation this week. Dropping any amount of cash will net you the first three chapters of point-and-click adventure game The Dream Machine, along with puzzle-platformer And Yet It Moves and vibrant touch-based game Luxuria Superbia. Dropping $6 or more will toss in atmospheric exploration game Dear Esther, 2D puzzle game The Bridge and board game-inspired 7 Grand Steps. This week's sale is well-timed: IndieCade East takes over the Museum of the Moving Image in New York this weekend. This is the show's second year in New York, and will highlight several eSports games as well as offer a nighttime exhibit on Saturday. [Image: Cockroach inc.]
The Chinese Room job listings call out next-gen game for 2015
British development studio thechineseroom, the outfit you may remember for its work on Dear Esther and the upcoming Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, is working on an open-world, first-person game for next-generation consoles. "We have just signed a development deal with a major publisher and are expanding our team for a next-generation console project, scheduled for release in summer 2015," a job listing for a visual FX artist points out. A second job listing for an audio designer mentions the unannounced game runs on CryEngine 3, suggesting this next-gen console game is Everybody's Gone to Rapture, the spiritual successor to Dear Esther. The official site for thechineseroom says to expect more info on this mystery game "in late summer." In February, thechineseroom pushed back A Machine for Pigs' launch to the second quarter of this year, between April and June.
Humble Indie Bundle 8 serves up Hotline Miami, Proteus, more
The Humble Indie Bundle 8 launched today, offering up downloadable Windows, Mac, and Linux versions of Thomas Was Alone, Awesomenauts, Little Inferno, Dear Esther, and Capsized as part of its pay-what-you-want base package. Buyers who beat the average purchase price (currently around $5) will also receive Hotline Miami and Proteus. The package additionally includes a free Awesomenauts character skin; if you ever wanted to dress up as a chicken while playing a side-scrolling MOBA, today is the day that your dreams become reality. All games are available as DRM-free downloads, and Steam keys are included. Humble 8 also marks the first time that Dear Esther, Thomas Was Alone, Little Inferno, Capsized, and Awesomenauts are available for Linux. The Humble Indie Bundle 8 will be available through June 14.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter will be combat-free, focus on exploration
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is the recently announced (and kind of creepy) new game from creative lead Adrian Chmielarz, formerly of People Can Fly, where he worked on violence-ridden games like Bulletstorm and Gears of War: Judgement. But while those games celebrated a proliferation of firearms, Chmielarz says his new title will be quite the opposite: There won't be any shooting at all.There will be some death, however. "Take Dear Esther, add gameplay, murder and corpses," Chmielarz said to Eurogamer this week. "That's the closest to what The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is." Dear Esther was a first person exploration game more than anything, but Chmielarz added to expect slightly more interactivity in the new title. Players will play as a detective (presumably researching the titular mystery), and will find clues as the game goes on. Chmielarz said that "the focus is not on mind bending puzzles, but on unsettling discoveries."He also said he was considering supporting the Oculus Rift, and other 3D displays and devices. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is set to launch on the PC later this year.
Steam Summer Sale, Day 5: Metro 2033, RAGE, Assassin's Creed: Revelations and more
If you made it this far into the Steam Summer Sale, plan on not buying that pizza you wanted for dinner tonight. Day five of the platform's annual deal-stravaganza features sales on Age of Empires III for $9.99, Metro 2033 for $4.99, RAGE for $9.99, and Assassin's Creed: Revelations for $13.59. Those four games add up to the cost of four large, one-topping pizzas alone.Today's sale includes both Dear Esther and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for a reasonable price of $2.49 each, around the cost of one of those personal pan pizzas. Let's be honest, those don't fill anyone up anyway.
Dear Esther sales crash against 100,000
Dear Esther, the atmospheric indie title from thechineseroom, has sold more than 100,000 copies, shortly following the title's launch for Mac on Steam. Developer Robert Briscoe shared the news on Dear Esther's official site: "I have to admit I was a little unsure as to what to expect from sales of Dear Esther once we went to retail, we all were – there was no real benchmark to go by at the time, so I'm extremely pleased to see so many people enjoying the game, and most importantly, proving that gamers are open and eager to new ideas and experiences outside of the boundaries of 'traditional' gameplay. Thanks to everyone who has supported us through this journey, and who will hopefully continue to support us in the future!"Dear Esther is half off through Thursday, May 17 in Steam's Midweek Madness sale, running just $5.
Dear Esther comes to Mac on Steam, is half off through Thursday
Dear Esther has finally wandered across the barren PC wasteland to end up on Mac as part of the larger Steam island system. Dear Esther, developed by current Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs team thechineseroom, now supports SteamPlay and is half off for Midweek Madness, through May 17.
Dear Esther turned a profit in just 5 hours, 30 minutes
Last year Indie Fund voted to support Dear Esther, a rebuild of the popular Half-Life 2 mod, and it gave developer thechineseroom $55,000 in one lump sum. Indie Fund had its reservations: In an email to thechineseroom's Dan Pinchbeck before handing over the money, Indie Fund said the Steam audience may not understand Dear Esther and it proposed a release on PSN instead. This didn't happen, and thankfully so.Dear Esther recouped Indie Fund's $55,000 investment yesterday in just 5 hours and 30 minutes, selling 16,000 copies and becoming the top-selling title on Steam for the entire day. This means all the sales now are going directly to thechineseroom, whether to fund another game, add to this one or take a team-building sky-diving trip, we'll have to wait and see.
PSA: Dear Esther has wandered onto Steam
Moving away from de rigueur violence, we're excited to hear about the re-release of Dear Esther, a moody game and former mod that is -- last we checked -- in no way about explosions and wars.Dear Esther is available for $9.99 right now on Steam. It's an adventure game for the Windows PC where, as a lost man, you explore a massive and beautiful island. Go ahead and thank Valve's Source engine, which powered Portal 2, for the "beautiful" part.
Dear Esther is looking especially sharp after being put through the Portal 2 engine
We forgive you if you don't remember what Dear Esther is -- it's the Half-Life 2 mod turned commercial game set for release this Valentine's Day. What a perfect day for launch, as we're told the game is quite easy to fall in love with.
Dear Esther coming to Steam on Valentine's Day for $10
The broad, early 2012 launch window of the pretty little Half-Life 2 mod-turned-full Steam game Dear Esther has been narrowed down to a sleek, streamlined release date. The game's official website just announced the title will arrive on Steam February 14 -- that's Valentine's Day, lovers -- for a cool $10. Or a hot $10, or any other temperature bill you feel like forking over. The site also posted a handful of new screens, such as the one above. See, it's got candles! That just screams "romantic Valentine's Day plans" to us.
'Dear Esther' now launching in early 2012, moved over to Portal 2 engine
It's strange, isn't it? The day after we're supposed to give thanks for all the special things in life, we subject ourselves to unknown abuse all in the name of saving a buck. Let's instead give thanks for indie game projects that you won't ever find under the heel of a particularly ill-tempered Walmart shopper on this or any other Black Friday. Like Dear Esther for example, the promising Half Life 2 mod turned real boy, coming to Steam ... when exactly? The more calendrically challenged amongst you may not have realized this, but Dear Esther has already missed its proposed summer 2011 release window so you'll be glad to know it hasn't been summarily forgotten. Developer Dan Pinchbeck says the project has been successfully ported to the Portal 2 engine, and discussions with Valve indicate a release "very likely to be either the end of January or the beginning of February next year." Right alongside Episode 3, right guys? Guys? %Gallery-140285%
Dear Esther HL2 mod remake to be commercially released this summer
Selected in December as Mod DB's annual "Best Upcoming Mod," Dear Esther is actually a remake of a 2008 Half-Life 2 Source-engine mod by the same name. The original mod was developed by indie studio thechineseroom (at the University of Portsmouth, UK) and was "stumbled across" by Robert Briscoe, a former level designer at DICE who had worked on Mirror's Edge. While "far from perfect," Dear Esther had both intrigued and inspired Briscoe, he wrote in May 2009, describing it as "an interactive painting or story, told through the eyes of a dying man on a journey to try and make peace with his tormented mind." "The whole thing is enveloped in deep mystery and hidden meanings," he continued, "I had the idea of taking the groundwork for the mod and develop [sic] it into a fully fledged, production-quality product." Briscoe took his idea to the original creative director Dan Pinchbeck, who "was very enthusiastic about it, giving me his full support on the project." 21 months of steady development later and the Dear Esther remake is on track for a commercial release this summer on Steam. That's right -- Pinchbeck and Briscoe approached Valve, which was "impressed enough to grant a Source license for a full independent release," recounts today's announcement (oddly dated July 30, 2010) on the just launched dear-esther.com. "Rob was creating something so extraordinary," Pinchbeck told PC Gamer UK in the new issue (via Beefjack), "[that] it deserved a wider audience than we could give it as a mod." You can get a glimpse of Briscoe's recreation in the June 2010 test footage postead after the break. [Pictured: work-in-progress screenshot; source: Robert Briscoe's Devblog]
IndieCade 2009: The finalists
IndieCade 2009 was held in Culver City, CA this past weekend, and the local art galleries and restaurants were filled with independent games and their developers from all over the world. The festival billed itself as the "video game Sundance" and lived up to this self-made reputation, putting 29 different indie games on display, both throughout the weekend and during a Thursday night opening ceremony MC'd by Uncharted 2's Richard Lemarchand (shown above with festival founder Stephanie Barish).We've rounded up the festival's finalists in the gallery below. You may be familiar with a few of them, including Twisted Pixel's The Maw and a selection of well-known iPhone titles, but all of these titles deserve your attention -- and a playthrough!%Gallery-74606%
