Syberia: The World Before director on preserving the vision of series creator Benoît Sokal
Keeping the legacy alive
Syberia: The World Before is the fourth entry in the long-running point and click adventure game series, and it’s set to land on Switch sometime in 2023. Sadly, the game’s original creator Benoît Sokal passed away while the game was still in development.
In a new interview with Game Developer, The World Before’s director Lucas Lagravette discusses the impact of Sokal and what it was like to finish the game without his guidance. Fortunately, Sokal was around for much of the game’s early development and was able to share his overall vision for the story and gameplay.
Preserving Sokal’s vision was a task the Microids team was already working on before his passing. Lagravette said that in the last few years, he was like a “teacher” to the team, invested in letting a new generation of developers carry on the Syberia story. His main focus was apparently making sure that the game wouldn’t be a “caricature” of older Syberia games, and ensuring the series didn’t shift too far into more modern alternate history genres like steampunk or clockpunk.
Lagravette goes on to discuss Sokal’s unique vision of Europe and where protagonist Kate Walker’s journey might lead in this new installment. Syberia is certainly a unique series, and it sounds like the team has worked hard to make it true to the tone and themes of past installments, while also trying not to repeat themselves.
Click here to read the full interview for more insight into the game’s development process.
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