14 DAY TRIAL // You have probably loved the funny green alien Abe and the strange Oddworld back when PC systems were still considered the best gaming platforms. I am sure that many of Abe's fans would still love to see a new game set in the Oddworld universe, even though, let's be honest, Oddworld Inhabitant's franchise is slowly losing all the remaining popularity it still had. But it is never too late to start working on a title that promises to bring a lot of fun to the gaming world.
However, we wouldn't like to consider this bit of information more than a rumor yet, having in mind that it comes via a student newspaper. Ontario's Wilfrid Laurier University, to be more specific, where Maxis co-founder Jeff Braun had a talk with the students and revealed plans for the future. According to the newspaper, Braun announced his involvement with Oddworld Inhabitants, creators of the Oddworld franchise, and the upcoming iteration. Yup? it seems these are the key words, "upcoming iteration", since OWI never had plans for such things...
"They're such a talented group of people and I really trust their ability to create compelling content," said Braun. But with a slow and measured production schedule subject to Braun's own entrepreneurial business model, it may be "years" before the game is actually shipped. That's even better because years in production mean high quality title.
Although there are just a few details given about the alleged new Oddworld title, we do know, thanks to the publication, that the upcoming title might be released in episodic content. Also, the game will feature a "revolutionary new 3-D animation system allowing videogame players to experience a cinematic quality on a 1 to 1 scale" to that of CG motion pictures.
This comes as a huge surprise because OWI announced years ago that it wouldn't be involved in computer or video games development anymore and would focus, instead, on cross-media IPs between films and games. Their first project is called Citizen Siege, but few details are known about its state.