Remember Me, which entered production in 2010, was once known as Adrift and an IP in development for Sony before the firm decided to “cut a number of projects,” according to Dontnod co-founder Jean-Maxime Moris.
Reiterating the split with CVG, Moris said even though the parting of ways was amicable, it was nonetheless a demoralizing affair.
“We talked to Sony as far back as 2008, and we talked to them regularly ever since then, ” said Moris. “[Then] for their own internal reasons, Sony had to cut a number of projects. And we were just part of that. Honestly there was no ill-will, there was no division; we just had to go our own separate ways.
“It was demoralizing, yeah, but maybe I’m just a little bit crazy but I thought it was going to happen anyway. In retrospect, it was probably a good thing. The game’s idea had evolved with Sony’s input – I was fine with walking away from it. With Sony out of the picture we brought the concept back to how we intended it to be.”
According to Moris, Sony wanted something which fit “best within their portfolio,” and the firm already has an “action adventure” franchise in the can.
“Actually, we just stopped pitching it to studios,” said Moris. “We had the immense luck of having an investor that believed in the project from day one and continued to support it financially. So it meant that we had a luxury that I don’t think many other developers get. So we thought, you know what, let’s not find a publisher and change our game again. Let’s make our game and find a publisher afterwards.
“The deal with Sony ended early 2011, so that year I went to Gamescom with a teaser, concept art and a speech. The idea was to create some excitement among journalists, which creates a feedback loop and catches the attention of publishers.
That happened. Our goal was to get a publishing deal by the end of the year, and by the time we signed with Capcom we had four publishing deals on the table.”
Moris said Dontnod ended up choosing Capcom because it was the “most enthusiastic and respectful towards the ideas of the project,” out of the other publishers it had spoken with regarding the game.
Remember Me is due on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in May 2013.
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