Oddworld studio developing Citizen Siege game and movie as one
Lorne Lanning and his studio Oddworld Inhabitants (creators of the… yes… Oddworld games) is set to make an ambitious return to interactive entertainment with Citizen Siege, a new original property developed from conception as a CG animated movie and videogame. Although no release date or game platforms were revealed yet.
The movie will be produced by John H. Williams, responsible for the Shrek series, and directed by Lanning himself (who even did the voice of Abe & Mudokons in his previous games). The game is currently being seen by a number of big-name publishers.
“Citizen Siege was conceived as a game and film from the very beginning,” revealed Lanning.
“Some publishers have seen the game and the response has been fabulous,” said Lanning, speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry. He continued: “But we want to see more of what the potential synergy between the two properties is before we take specific directions on how the game’s going to be done.”
“We’ve watched the movies in the Warhammer games and we’re thinking ‘where’s that motion picture?’ It’s not out there yet because CG animated films are all in ‘plush toy’ reality – unless a company blows tons of money like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within did.”
Lanning hopes the project will help merge the two mediums further, as both the game and film of Citizen Siege develop alongside one another.
“Oddworld has had the chance to create original property that was designed as a film and as a game experience simultaneously. So the two influence one another as they grow. This is an idea that’s being talked about by media companies, but for the most part isn’t really happening yet.”
“We saw that we were uniquely positioned to capture that. But it was a big risk and we had to willing to take that risk and afford ourselves the time to really go for it,” he added.
