GreedFall Developer Blog – The Birth of a New Universe

Now that we know that Spiders and Focus Home Interactive’s colonial-themed action-RPG GreedFall is set to go live on September 10, 2019, we also get the first entry in the official developer blog for the game. To start things off, the developers tell us how the game came to life and list a few of the inspirations behind its 17th century-looking setting. Here it is:

Hi everyone,

We are delighted to kick off a series of articles unveiling more details about the making of GreedFall today – a one-of-a-kind RPG by Spiders, coming to Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC on September 10.

We’re taking a look at this new world, specially created for GreedFall, with Jehanne Rousseau, Lead Writer and CEO at Spiders, as well as Cyril Tahmassebi, Artistic Director, and Camille Lallement, Lead Cinematic Artist.

How GreedFall came to life

The need to confront new challenges in a distinct universe impassioned the team, inspiring Spiders to dream up a unique concept and naturally leading to the creation of GreedFall. CEO and Lead Writer Jehanne Rousseau set out to create a more fantasy-based universe, totally distinct from the arid Dunes of Mars.

For GreedFall, Spiders delved into vast, open-air environments, forests, and lush greenery while avoiding the cliches of the classic medieval fantasy setting. The team also wished to highlight exploration even more than in previous titles. Taking inspiration from the 17th century, particularly baroque artwork, seemed fitting as an answer to both criteria.

The natural next step was to seek new reference materials to gain inspiration from; from artwork to literature. The team quickly built a library of material and references that resonated with the project, from which to stimulate imagination and creativity. This is really how the world of GreedFall came to life.

Spiders’ inspirations for GreedFall

Countless books, movies and tv shows were studied by the whole team to create this new universe! Camille Lallement, Lead Cinematic Artist, also claims the team wanted to explore current issues, as well as some older ones that we may otherwise like to collectively forget. Key inspirations include the Miyazaki classic Princess Mononoke. The animated film was one of the first references when designing the natives living on the Island of Teer Fradee. It also pushed the team to start considering ecology as one of the native’s greatest motives.

Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) was also a great inspiration for the general aesthetic, particularly the rich variety of outfits and equipment. Of course, modern shows such as Game of Thrones also provided some inspiration regarding political intrigue and complex diplomacy, even if that specific setting is very different in tone and environment.

Swashbuckling adventures were a fantastic source of inspiration in terms of narrative for Jehanne, especially those written by Dumas (The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, The Vicomte de Bragelotte). Historical events were also instrumental in building GreedFall’s world and narrative – Jehanne even read a book written under Louis XIV’s reign, about the contemporary Navy in order to find specific terms and understand how specific aspects of navigation evolved over time.

Artistic Director Cyril Tahmassebi lists sources of inspiration dating back to the 17th century art. Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Frans Hals, Vermeer and even the Chiaroscuro technique of contrasting light and darkness were vital references when creating GreedFall’s visuals. The architecture, costumes, ornaments, lighting, objects, textures, atmosphere from this time all inspired the art team at Spiders.

Stay tuned for more insights about the development of GreedFall in our next articles! GreedFall releases on September 10 on Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC.