Montreal’s Illogika readies for Subaeria Launch
Subaeria2
The best part of the video game scene at this year’s Comiccon wasn’t the big stands from the major companies hawking their numerous sequels, but the row of indie developers showcasing their creations. One that caught my attention was Illogika, a Montreal studio founded in 2009 by David Fugère-Lamarre. Since then, the studio has grown to 20 employees, of which 10 are dedicated full time to Subaeria, their upcoming original title (the first for the studio). The 3D game has been in development since July 2014, and is now nearing release.
The top down game takes place in a futuristic dystopia where water levels have risen drastically. Through the lives of various characters, each belonging to a different social class, the player will progress into a complex world, governed by powerful multinationals, political trickery and injustice. The game puts emphasis on narrative and promises deep gameplay sessions. Players need to destroy the robots that have taken over society, but not with guns; instead they need to use the environment to force them to destroy themselves or each other.
Last May, the game quickly went through Steam Greenlight, drawing enthusiastic comments from the community. The feedback from Comiccon was equally positive, and the game will be available on Steam on September 22. I asked Valentine Dessertenne, Illogika’s Director of Communications, what were the biggest challenges that an indie developer faces in bringing to market an original game. “One of the biggest challenges we face as a young studio is to get our game known,” she says. “There are so many indie games being created right now that it’s tough to break through and get some attention on our game.”
One thing that Illogika can leverage though, is the very strong Montreal game developing industry. “We can always interact with members of the community to get feedback on our game. We’re constantly meeting creative people and helping each other out; it’s a very tight nit community from which we can only benefit.” This feedback has allowed the developers to iterate on their game and fine tune its features to be ready for launch.
Check out the game’s official website at http://subaeria.com and its Steam page at http://steamcommunity.com/groups/subaeria The game will be out on September 22nd.
Jean Frederic Vachon runs the amazing blog, Diary of a Music Addict.
