Retro Studios LinkedIn profile mentions “narrative specializations in worldbuilding” and “non-linear storytelling”
When you’re a big developer without a new game in over four years, fans are going to very much interested in what you’re working on. Case and point: Retro Studios. The company’s last original title was Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, which first debuted in 2014.
While we still don’t have the big picture, some new clues point to a heavier narrative focus for Retro’s next title. The LinkedIn profile of one writer mentions the following:
“Working with a highly skilled team to bridge the gaps between game design needs and telling a compelling story in a meaningful world. Finding the best ways to construct the narrative we want the player to experience with the tools and restrictions available through text, dialogue, and non-traditional storytelling.”
These points are also listed on the CV:
* Key team member for collaborative worldbuilding, story construction, and IP development.
* Point of contact for supplemental prose writing.
* Special focus on designer collaboration for player experience storytelling.
The information above was updated by one of the developer’s Linkedin page, after previously working as a manager at Retro – and now a writer on a new game. His profile also has this exact terminology:
“Narrative specializations in worldbuilding, character development, design integration, non-linear storytelling, prose fiction”
So that’s certainly interesting. If Retro was working on something like Donkey Kong, you wouldn’t expect narrative to have much of a role at all. The developer should be creating something very different for its next project.
