For every big-screen incarnation of Batman, there must also be a Joker. Actually, Joker now has the edge thanks to his new, Batman-less origin story starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Clown Prince of Crime. Already fans are declaring Phoenix’s Joker to be one of the all-time best, and awards buzz is building.
But how does Phoenix’s take on Joker compare to classic versions like Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger? Vote in the poll and let us know your favorite big-screen incarnation of Joker:
IGN’s Jim Vejvoda gave Joker a rare perfect 10 score, saying, “Featuring a riveting, fully realized, and Oscar-worthy performance by Joaquin Phoenix, Joker would work just as well as an engrossing character study without any of its DC Comics trappings; that it just so happens to be a brilliant Batman-universe movie is icing on the Batfan cake.”
Blizzard’s decision to harshly punish professional Hearthstone player Blitzchung has already received criticism from across the political spectrum and game community, and another high-profile personality has joined the chorus with his thoughts: the very first Hearthstone World Champion.
James Kostesich aka “Firebat” won the Hearthstone World Championship in 2014, when the game was just getting started as a competitive esport. He’s still a popular streamer and competes on Team Omnislash. In the streaming show Omnistone, fellow Hearthstone personality Brian Kibler reiterated his previous statement that while Blitzchung definitely did violate the rules, the punishment is too extreme. Kostesich agreed.
“I agree that he’s not supposed to do that. That is definitely, clearly against the rules of Grandmasters,” Kostesich said. “But it’s definitely ridiculous how much he was punished for it. I agree that there’s probably something else going on–they want to make an example of him or something, because it’s just so unreasonable. I think they’re totally in the wrong to punish him that much: absolutely murdering the guy’s Hearthstone career, or attempting to anyway. It’s very sad to see. I wish they would support their players more. Using a player as an example, it doesn’t make me feel good.”
Kostesich’s comments are the latest in a series of sharp critiques leveled at Blizzard, which has included sitting US Senators, competing companies, and even some of Blizzard’s own employees. Kibler has quit his position as a Grandmasters caster in protest.
The incident began when Ng Wai Chung aka “Blitzchung” expressed his support for Hong Kong protests during a post-match interview. Blizzard said this violated its rule against any act that “brings you into public disrepute, offends a portion or group of the public, or otherwise damages Blizzard’s image.” As punishment, Chung was banned from competitive events for a year and forced to give up his $10,000 in winnings.
Kibler and Kostesich say they agree that Chung did actually commit a rule infraction, but it’s the year-long ban and $10,000 at stake that appear too harsh.
Meanwhile, Blizzard fans are still rallying a boycott. Several users on the Hearthstone subreddit have announced they are quitting the game or deleting accounts. Some fans have also called for Hearthstone streamers to quit the game in protest. This prompted at least one popular former streamer, Disguised Toast, to respond that such an expectation isn’t necessarily viable–but he issued a different kind of ultimatum of his own.
Hearthstone streamers are being pressured to stop streaming Hearthstone due to the Blitzchung drama, but that’s financially unrealistic for them. So I’ll make this offer instead. BLIZZARD, I will START playing Hearthstone again if you reconsider your position about his ban.
With Joker currently smashing box office records with Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role, it’s easy to forget that it’s only three years since the last version of the Crown Prince of Crime was on screen. Jared Leto played the role in 2016’s Suicide Squad, and despite initial rumors that he would return to role, this now seems unlikely. According to a new report, he wasn’t happy about the decision to make another Joker movie without him.
The Hollywood Reporter states that Leto was left feeling “alienated and upset” when Joker was greenlit by Warner. While Suicide Squad was not a critical hit, it was a box office success, and it was expected that Leto would reprise the role. In June 2018 it was reported that a standalone Joker movie starring Leto was in development, that would tie into a Suicide Squad sequel. However, there has been no further news about this, and Suicide Squad is now being rebooted by James Gunn.
The new Joker movie was first announced in 2017, which led Leto himself to comment on the situation. He said he was “confused” by the fact there were seemingly more than one movie in the works. It was also reported by THR that Leo was “was caught off guard by the plans.”
Whether we’ll see Phoenix reprise the role is unknown. While director Todd Phillips initially denied that there were plans for a sequel, Phoenix this week stated that he couldn’t “stop thinking about” the character.
One Suicide Squad character that is getting a spin-off movie is Harley Quinn. Margot Robbie is set to play Harley again in the upcoming Birds of Prey, which releases in February 2020. For more, check out GameSpot’s guide to everything we know so far about Birds of Prey.
It’s been six years since the final episode of Breaking Bad finished the story in spectacular fashion. As far as finales are concerned, it’s hard to get much better than “Felina,” a heartbreaking but ultimately victorious end to one of TV’s most complex and anxiety-inducing dramas. It had just about everything: sendoffs for all of the major surviving characters, little nods and winks to some of the show’s earliest plot threads, an explosive climax, and an immensely satisfying conclusion.
In terms of last episodes, it would have been hard to do any better–which, really, is why the prospect of El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie feels so daunting. Is it really worth revisiting and adding to those final moments at the risk of muddling a perfect ending?
Well, get ready to feel at ease, because the answer to that question, shockingly, is “yes.” If you’re a fan of Breaking Bad, El Camino is a labor of love made specifically for you, and it’s one that will not, in any way, corrupt or dismantle your carefully crafted perception of the original show. If anything, it’s a grace note–one that, quite frankly, is surprising really only in the sense that it’s allowed to exist at all given just how long Breaking Bad has been out of the spotlight.
El Camino tells the story of Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), picking up exactly where we left him in the series finale. His last shot on the show was him driving an old El Camino out of the white supremacist compound he’d been kept in as a hostage for months and months–finally escaping while Walter White bled out on the floor of the compound’s lab. In the context of the show, we’re meant to see Jesse’s final moments as, ultimately, victorious. He’s alive, he escaped, that’s good enough. In the movie, we’re meant to understand that things are a bit more complicated, especially given the monstrously inhumane treatment and trauma he’d been subjected to for so long. We get to see him meet up with old friends, finally unpack some of his more daunting baggage, and figure out what his new, post-Walter White direction in life ought to be.
Making changes to that ending could have been disastrous, but thankfully, nothing about the final episode is actually recontextualized or changed in any way by this film. It’s simply expanded.
This makes El Camino a pretty unusual viewing experience. There really aren’t any stakes, and the movie totally lacks a conventional three-act structure. The journey Jesse goes on is both predictable and literal–he has to move on from Walter White. That’s a given. And he does so by taking a trip around Albequerque and down memory lane. It’s all bit uncanny, especially if you go in expecting a traditional action movie.
Writer/director/creator Vince Gilligan deftly avoided tampering with the past by telling a new story that feels, in the most non-pejorative way possible, like Breaking Bad fanfiction. It’s less an attempt to add anything new to the legacy and more a labor of love that explores a character fans already have a ton of emotional investment in. It’s ultimately a small story–one that, had it happened in an episode of the series proper, would have undoubtedly taken up about 15 minutes or so–protracted into a feature-length film. That breathing room affords the movie plenty of time to really dig into the ins and outs of Jesse’s character and revisit some of the more important relationships he had throughout the show.
Simply put, it’s a love letter both to Jesse and to Breaking Bad as a whole, but as such, you’ll need to have an understanding of and appreciation for the franchise going in. It’s beautifully shot and impeccably well crafted–Gilligan’s aesthetic sensibilities as a director have only gotten better and more defined in the six-year gap–but it won’t mean much of anything to someone who isn’t already steeped in the canon. Similarly, it may miss the mark for anyone who wasn’t specifically invested in Jesse. This is, absolutely and without question, his movie, meaning that while El Camino might feature a revolving door of some of Breaking Bad’s greatest side characters, there are some major ommissions. Jesse may not be the only character left without an absolutely conclusive ending (Skyler, we’re looking at you) in “Felina,” but he’s the only one this movie is concerned about exploring in any meaningful way.
Ultimately, your mileage is going to vary. If you love Breaking Bad and Jesse Pinkman, El Camino is a beautifully crafted kindness, and a chance to spend another hour or so with a character you care about. If you don’t have strong feelings about either of those things, El Camino may feel like a really spectacularly shot screen saver. Either way, the fact that it exists at all, and that Sony TV and Netflix were willing to put money behind what is so obviously an extremely niche passion project, feels like a good omen for franchise TV.
El Camino is streaming now on Netflix and in a limited number of theaters, and will air on AMC at a later date.
Appearing at PAX Aus today in Melbourne, Call of Duty audio designers from Sledgehammer Games shared some interesting insight into how they made the sounds for Call of Duty: WWII.
David Swenson (Audio Director) and Michael Caisley (Lead Sound Designer) came from the San Francisco Bay Area to speak on the panel, and one of the most intriguing stories they shared was about how they captured the sounds for the the Normandy Beach landing scene in Call of Duty: WWII.
Swenson and Caisley talked about how their original idea to capture the Normandy Beach sounds was to work with the United States Coast Guard. In fact, the audio team went out with the Coast Guard, climbing into their boats and going out on the water to create more realistic-sounding water noises.
However, due to legal issues related to the rights, Sledgehammer was unable to use these sounds. In this tough position, Sledgehammer came up with a unique and inexpensive solution.
To create splashing sounds and the sound of water hitting jackets, Caisley used his own garden hose–at his house–and sprayed the water in a stream onto an old leather jacket attached to a metal chair. It was a unique and inexpensive solution that ended up with a great result with excellent sound in the final mix.
The developers also shared another story in a similar vein. To capture some of the sounds of fighter planes like the B-24 Liberator and the B-25 Mitchell, the team had a unique challenge because the planes are not widely in operation anymore. So what did they do? A local airshow near Sledgehammer’s office featured classic WWII planes, giving the team an opportunity to capture the sounds. But getting close was another issue. So the audio team went to a nearby golf course and parked out on Hole 3. When the planes flew overheard, they broke out their recorders and captured the sounds in a way you probably didn’t expect.
In another example, Swenson said Sledgehammer was struggling to find a way to faithfully capture the sound of a soldier walking through a creek for Call of Duty: WWII. They tried capturing the sound of a person walking in a pool, but when they got back to the tool, that’s what it sounded like: a person walking in a pool, with reverberations from the edges and other unnatural elements that just wouldn’t do. California, where Sledgehammer is located, was going through a drought and the nearby creeks were dry.
The team was in a tight spot, but it all worked out, as Swenson went on a camping trip further away from the office and lo and behold, there was a water-filled creek nearby he could use to capture the sound. Audio designers should always bring their recording equipment with them, wherever they go, Swenson said.
One further story involved an earlier Sledgehammer title, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Swenson struggled for a while to find the right sound for Walker Tanks, but he had a stroke of good fortune one morning. Swenson, who sleeps with his recorder on his bedside table, woke up one morning to the sound of the the garbing truck driving by. He raced outside and followed his garbage truck for “like 100 houses” to capture the various heavy and mechanical sounds of what would become the Walker Tanks,
Swenson and Caisley provided these examples, and others, to make the point that Sledgehammer’s audio team is known for being crafty and smart with the resources they have. Swenson said when he first started working on Call of Duty, he thought he would have a never-ending budget and all the resources he needed. In reality, however, that wasn’t always necessarily the case. So they changed mindsets to act and operate more like a startup. The team has in the past spent a lot of money on big shoots, but this comes with a lot of pressure, both Swenson and Caisley agreed.
PAX Aus runs October 11-13 in Melbourne, and GameSpot is on hand at the show all weekend to bring you news and further coverage. For more, check out a rundown of all the panels in the GameSpot Theatre.
The next Call of Duty game is Modern Warfare, from developer Infinity Ward. The game launches on October 25 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Shannon Noll, a singer-songwriter known for his appearance on Australian Idol and for being a meme, is starting a competitive gaming team. Announced at PAX Aus in Melbourne today, Noll has been named the captain of the “Motley Squad” team that will compete in the upcoming Legion of Champions Series IV tournament presented by Lenovo. Noll’s gamer name is apparently “Nollsie.”
Motley Squad is currently recruiting “celebrity” gamers to join him, though no other names have been announced or hinted at thus far.
“I can’t wait to begin recruiting some fellow celebs to take on some of the regions top gamers in November at Lenovo’s Legion of Champions tournament,” Noll said in a statement. “People still have an outdated idea that only hardcore gamers are interested in gaming. That’s just not true. My kids play, and I’m here at PAX meeting all kinds of people–from lawyers to doctors, kids to grandparents.
“I’m excited to assemble the rest of the Motley Squad and show how people with different lives and experiences can come together to enjoy gaming together.”
Popular pro gamer FaZe Hazz is working with Noll and the other celebrity members of Motley Squad to help them improve their skills.
“I know we’ll have to work hard to get a team in shape by November, but I’m excited to open up the world of gaming to a new group of people,” Hazz said in a statement. “While the competition may be stiff, and the team inexperienced, the passion of a new group of gamers is sure to make for an exciting journey. Keep your eyes peeled for who Nollsie ecruits, and how they do.”
PAX Aus runs October 11-13 in Melbourne, and GameSpot is on hand at the show all weekend to bring you news and further coverage. For more, check out a rundown of all the panels in the GameSpot Theatre.
If you’re looking for the best graphics card, whether it’s RTX, GTX, or one of AMD’s latest Radeon VII cards, this guide will help you decide on the best card for 1080p, 1440p, or 4K gaming.
Sometimes you can’t hassle with a battery bank and you wait for for a recharge, so you need a battery case. Here’s our favorites for all the popular phones.
Will Smith has shared an exclusive behind-the-scenes photo taken from an action sequence filmed for Gemini Man, revealing the complex equipment used to bring the scene to the big screen.
The actor praised Ang Lee’s filmmaking abilities alongside the image that he posted to Instagram, showing him in action. In the shot, Smith is positioned on the ground, pointing his gun straight up into the air, as a massive camera setup captures everything directly from above.
In the caption he wrote, “This is what a 120 FPS 3D camera rig mounted on a crane looks like hanging over my head. Ang Lee is a brilliant filmmaker but sometimes he be doin’ too much!! You GOTTA see Gemini Man in 3D!”
BioWare veteran David Gaider, who left the esteemed role-playing game studio in 2016 after almost two decades with the company, has announced his next big project. Gaider has started a new team, Summerfall Studios, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, and their first game is probably not what you would expect. The new game is called Chorus. It is part musical, part illustrated adventure game, and part character-driven narrative. Summerfall is looking to fund the game on the crowdfunding/equity platform Fig, with a projected release in Q1 2021.
Summerfall has assembled top talent for Chorus. In addition to Gaider–the former head writer on the Dragon Age series–the studio brought on former Obsidian and Beamdog developer Liam Esler as the company’s managing director. Being a music-themed game, Summerfall seems to be sparing no expense with its musical talent. The company is working with Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory (Journey) on the music, while veteran voice actor Troy Baker (who is also an accomplished musician) will work on Chorus as its Voice Director. Additionally, prolific voice actress Laura Bailey (Gears 5, Uncharted 4) is lined up to voice the main character, Grace.
Summerfall says Chorus is a “first of its kind” game from an “all-star team gone indie.”
The story follows Grace in a sweeping narrative involving gods, music, and other-worldly creatures. “In Chorus, we follow Grace’s story as she finds herself thrust into a high-stakes world of weary gods and fantastical creatures after her new bandmate dies bleeding in her apartment–but not before granting Grace the divine power of song,” reads a line from the game’s description. “When the gods accuse her of murdering Calliope, the ‘fair-voiced’ muse, Grace must discover the truth… before the gods take her life in exchange.”
Chorus takes its inspiration from a number of different sources, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s musical episode, “Once More With Feeling,” the dialogue and companions of Dragon Age, and the quirkiness of Dream Daddy.
“For Summerfall’s first game, Liam and I felt that we wanted to do something a little different,” Gaider, who is the game’s creative director, told GameSpot in an interview. “I’ve personally wanted to work on a musical ever since I was lead writer on Dragon Age back at BioWare, and I used to half-jokingly suggest to my bosses that a musical DLC would be a delightful break from the norm. We never did that, of course, but the idea stuck with me… and when I suggested to Liam that it could be our ‘something a little different,” he jumped on the idea, and everything started falling into place right afterwards.”
The characters are at the heart of Chorus’s story–and this includes romance options. The romance system in Chorus isn’t relegated to a “side show,” Gaider explained. Instead, romancing other characters is a central part of the plot, and it can even affect how the story ends. “The characters are part of the Chorus universe, and getting the player to care about those characters makes them also care about their world and their problems,” Gaider said. “Indeed, in BioWare games we found that many players were so invested in their relationships that it made the more abstract problems presented by the plot completely secondary.”
While Summerfall is based in Melbourne, Gaider continues to live in Edmonton, Canada. Esler is heading up the team in Melbourne, and he is quick to point out that the studio is planning to do right by its employees by avoiding burnout and crunch, while also actively recruiting with the aim of creating a diverse workforce. Not only this, but Summerfall worked with Film Victoria, a government group that supports media teams and projects, to help create the new game.
“When David and I first began to talk about starting a studio, one of the things we immediately agreed on was that we are done with burnout, crunch culture and workplace toxicity,” Esler said. “We are both passionate about diversity of all kinds, and want to ensure we create a workplace where all kinds of people are welcome, and diverse perspectives are appreciated. To achieve these goals, we’ve worked hard to speak with experts and studios all over the globe, inside and outside of games, to create supportive and proactive work policies. It might sound trite, but we’re determined to make Summerfall a studio where the team works together to create something beautiful–not a studio where something beautiful is created at the expense of the team. “
Summerfall met with publishers to discuss deals and partnerships. While various companies expressed enthusiasm, the feedback from these meetings was direct: there was no data to show a game like Chorus could succeed. As such, Summerfall is looking to fund Chorus via crowdfunding. Esler reflected on the conversations he had with publishers.
“There’s nothing like it out there. Chorus has elements from many places, but you can’t draw a direct line between it and any other game without some kind of caveat,” Esler said. “While almost everyone we spoke to was very enthusiastic about the concept, and most agreed it was both novel and that there was a clear audience, there’s just no data or previous success to prove it.
“The audience for musicals–despite massive successes like Hamilton or Frozen–is considered niche. Somebody’s got to try it first, so we figured–why not us? And we would rather talk to our audience directly to find out if they want a game like this!”
Summerfall is looking to raise $600,000 USD to fund Chorus, with a number of physical and digital bonuses and experiences available for those who support the campaign. Summerfall originally was looking to fund Chorus on Kickstarter, but those plans were canceled in the wake of the revelation that Kickstarter as a company won’t voluntarily recognize employee unions.
For lots more on Chous, check out GameSpot’s interview with Gaider and Esler below. They’ll both also appear on a GameSpot Theatre panel on Saturday, October 12 to discuss lots more about Summerfall and Chorus–get more details here.
Chorus is part musical, part illustrated adventure game, and part character-driven narrative–where did the idea for this kind of game come from?
David Gaider: For Summerfall’s first game, Liam and I felt that we wanted to do something a little different. I’ve personally wanted to work on a musical ever since I was Lead Writer on Dragon Age back at BioWare, and I used to half-jokingly suggest to my bosses that a musical DLC would be a delightful break from the norm. We never did that, of course, but the idea stuck with me… and when I suggested to Liam that it could be our “something a little different,” he jumped on the idea, and everything started falling into place right afterwards.
Can you talk about how the various distinct elements–adventure game, musical, character-driven narrative–tie together and work off each other?
Gaider: A great deal of Chorus is a choice-driven game, much like the RPG’s I’ve worked on previously. The player engages with scenes using branching dialogue, and moves from scene to scene during the story by making selections on a different screen–like “find the owner” or “break down the door”. This allows us to have the kind of choice-driven narrative we both like and are accustomed to making. The major difference is that the big moments in Chorus are resolved not with combat, but with song. A musical scene begins, and the player makes choices during it much the same as they do during dialogue, and that changes the course of the song… and, ultimately, determines where the song ends and how the story changes as a result.
What did you take from Dragon Age and your previous work at BioWare that’s helping or instructing the ideas and themes of Chorus?
Gaider: I’ve spent my entire career working with branching dialogue and branching narrative, so that’s certainly helpful with Chorus. I think I’ve also gained an appreciation for just how much of the audience prioritizes things like characters, romance, and narrative over things like combat and progression mechanics.
Relationships and romance are going to be a part of Chorus. Can you talk about that more?
Gaider: Characters are at the center of Chorus’s story – the player character joins a society of Greek gods that are still alive in the modern world, and very dysfunctional, and she’s going to have to navigate them and make choices about which ones are her friends and enemies. Part of that is also offering the chance to start a romance… not as a side show, but as something that develops into a central part of the plot and can change how the story ends. The characters are part of the Chorus universe, and getting the player to care about those characters makes them also care about their world and their problems. Indeed, in BioWare games we found that many players were so invested in their relationships that it made the more abstract problems presented by the plot completely secondary.
Why did you want to leave AAA and move to the indie space? What kinds of new freedoms and opportunities do you have now at a smaller studio?
Gaider: I think there’s room in the industry for smaller teams and smaller games which can achieve success on a smaller scale. You can make something that’s much more focused on its audience, and there’s a lot of freedom in that, as a creator. A great deal more challenges too, obviously, but so far I’m really enjoying the camaraderie of a small team where we band together and do whatever we think works best, without having to worry about numerous layers of management and greenlight procedures.
What are some of the challenges related to being a smaller team?
Gaider: Security is the big one. You always feel like you’re half a step from oblivion, and you don’t have the comfort of many others around you to offer advice and share the blame. Everyone also needs to multitask, since you don’t have enough people to really specialize in their one field… everyone needs to be willing to jump onto something that needs doing, and learn how to do it if necessary. That can be a little harrying, even if it’s also exciting.
David and Liam, why did you choose Melbourne as the city for Summerfall?
Gaider: For me, when I first came to Melbourne and was introduced to its dev community, the thing I noticed was how tightly-knit and friendly they were. There’s a lot of potential for growth, here. I’m still based in Edmonton for now, but if I end up moving to Melbourne personally to join the rest of the team it certainly doesn’t hurt that I’d be leaving the long Canadian winter behind.
Liam Esler: Melbourne is my favourite city in the world–and conveniently has one of the most vibrant and interesting game development communities I’ve seen. I’ve been extremely passionate about supporting and growing the Australian and Victorian game development industry since I worked with the Game Developers’ Association of Australia and helped run Game Connect Asia Pacific–so it made perfect sense for us to start Summerfall here.
You’ve said you want Summerfall to be a sustainable studio that does right by its employees. How are you going about achieving this?
Esler: When David and I first began to talk about starting a studio, one of the things we immediately agreed on was that we are done with burnout, crunch culture and workplace toxicity. We are both passionate about diversity of all kinds, and want to ensure we create a workplace where all kinds of people are welcome, and diverse perspectives are appreciated. To achieve these goals, we’ve worked hard to speak with experts and studios all over the globe, inside and outside of games, to create supportive and proactive work policies. It might sound trite, but we’re determined to make Summerfall a studio where the team works together to create something beautiful–not a studio where something beautiful is created at the expense of the team.
“We’re making Chorus for the people who often get left behind by big-budget video games, who aren’t necessarily here for the combat or the violence, but are EXTREMELY here for everything else.” — Esler
Who is the target audience for Chorus?
Esler: We’re making Chorus for people who love characters and narrative, who love vibrant, human stories, who love musicals and song. Those who loved the characters of Dragon Age, the music of Buffy: Once More With Feeling or Dear Evan Hansen, or who are big fans of urban fantasy and witty writing.
Most of all, though, we’re making Chorus for the people who often get left behind by big-budget video games, who aren’t necessarily here for the combat or the violence, but are EXTREMELY here for everything else.
Why do you think there haven’t been more musical games?
Gaider: I think there have been many games in which music has played a big part, it’s just always been a big part of the background. For most, I suspect the challenge would be how to incorporate music as a more active element. Our biggest challenge was figuring out how to make the songs interactive, allowing the player time to make choices while still preserving the overall pace and flow of the music. There’s also the element of needing to incorporate a composer into the process much earlier. We’re not just adding singing to interactive dialogue, after all – it has to be a production now, and that’s a much more complicated proposition.
Why do you think publishers thought Chorus was too risky or different to take on?
Esler: There’s nothing like it out there. Chorus has elements from many places, but you can’t draw a direct line between it and any other game without some kind of caveat. While almost everyone we spoke to was very enthusiastic about the concept, and most agreed it was both novel and that there was a clear audience, there’s just no data or previous success to prove it.
The audience for musicals–despite massive successes like Hamilton or Frozen–is considered niche. Somebody’s got to try it first, so we figured–why not us? And we would rather talk to our audience directly to find out if they want a game like this!
Can you talk about your relationship with Film Victoria about their contributions to Chorus and the other help they provided to you on the project?
Esler: Film Victoria has been invaluable on Chorus from the get-go. As soon as we had a clear idea of what we were doing and how we needed to be proceeding, we started talking to Film Victoria, who provided advice and guidance on all manner of things. We were lucky enough to be recipients of two rounds of grant funding, which allowed us the time and space to really develop Chorus into something special, while they provided expert feedback and support. We can’t thank them enough!
