The film production company behind 'Her' is getting into video games
The endless dance between video games and movies continues.
Annapurna Pictures, founded by Megan Ellison in 2011, is the latest Hollywood player to line up. The film production company behind Her, Zero Dark Thirty, and Sausage Party (among others) will start publishing games in 2017 under the banner of Annapurna Interactive.
The first two releases are expected to arrive in spring 2017: What Remains of Edith Finch? and Gorogoa.
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Edith Finch comes from the team at Giant Sparrow, the studio behind the 2014 indie gem The Unfinished Swan. The upcoming game -- which was first revealed in late 2014 -- is a collection of interactive short stories that all relate to a cursed family in the state of Washington.
Gorogoa is a puzzle game for PC and mobile that features a distinctive art style and music from Journey's Austin Wintory. The game's been kicking around for a number of years -- it was the winner of the Visual Design Award at IndieCade 2012 -- and it's finally just about ready for release.
Those are just the first two projects. Later, Annapurna Interactive will also release creations from Funomena -- a collaboration with Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi -- and Mountains, the studio founded by Monument Valley lead designer Ken Wong.
The team on the Annapurna side is made up of industry talents with a combined resume that work on games like Journey, God of War, Mortal Kombat, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Flower, and Fat Princess.
In a prepared statement, Ellison classifies herself as a long-time gamer and namedrops The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which she played with her brother when they were kids.
"The artistry and diversity of interactive storytelling is exciting and we look forward to exploring the limitless possibilities in gaming," Ellison's statement reads. "We want to empower artists across this medium to make Annapurna Interactive their home and I believe we’ve assembled the perfect team to make that happen."
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
