Remakes, new games, and unfinished projects
WithAbe’s Oddysee New ‘N’ Tasty, the remake of the classicOddworldtitle coming out later this year, Just Add Water reveals what’s next for the rejuvenated franchise. Remakes, games brought back from the dead, and entirely new titles may all be on the cards, revealed Stewart Gilray, Just Add Water’s CEO, in aninterviewwith VG24/7.
The studio recently created apollto discover what fans wanted them to do, with options ranging from remaking otherOddworldgames, to working on the long-lost titlesThe Hand of Odd,Squeek’s Oddysee, andThe Brutal Ballad of Fangus Klot.
Gilray explained the purpose of the poll. “It wasn’t just a case of gathering info that will gather dust in a drawer, we already have a rough plan for the next couple of years, but we wanted to ensure we weren’t just wasting time making something that nobody wanted, so we just wanted to give ourselves some confidence.” And the results surprised them.
It was a remake ofAbe’s Exoddus, in my humble opinion the greatest game in the series, that got folks’ juices flowing the heaviest, followed by a brand new game, then the unfinished titles. “We were a little surprised thatSqueek’s Oddyseewasn’t higher up the result,” Gilray confessed. “We knewExodduswould be pretty high up there, but to see it where it ended up was nice.”
It turns out that the studio has a lot to work with, as the originalHand of Odddesign document is in their possession, along with a working version ofFangusfor the original Xbox. They’ve also got the source code for both of Abe’s adventures. “We’ve got the source code to bothAbe’s OddyseeandAbe’s Exoddus. However, [we] don’t have final PSone code forOddysee, and no PC code, but we have final PC code forExoddus,and no PSone code. So we’ve got a mix,” Gilray revealed.
So it looked likeExoddusis the next step, but Oddworld Inhabitants’ Lorne Lanning, the series’ creator has plenty of “crazy ideas,” and with complete control over the IP, the two studios could really take the franchise in any direction. It’s exciting stuff, to be sure. Check out thefull interviewfor more information on the remake and the future ofOddworld.
