After nearly 15 months of development, we are very excited to formally announce to the world our first game slated for public release: Interference.
Well, technically we “announced” Interference back in January. And we’ve been posting periodically about it on various channels since then. We’re not exactly releasing state secrets here, is what we’re saying. But we do have some cool new stuff to share with you all, and we think that’s more than enough reason to get excited!
A New Name
First things first, our team has a new name. We’ve transitioned from our longtime moniker of The Scary Farm to adopt Fear of Corn because we wanted a name that was unique and memorable. We loved “The Scary Farm” for its simplicity, but we feel like Fear of Corn speaks more to our approach to making games: it’s multilayered, has a sense of humor, and it’ll stick with you.
But the new name is just the tip of the iceberg.
A New Purpose
Our primary motivation for an official unveiling of Interference now, as opposed to back in January, is a renewed sense of purpose for why we are pouring countless hours into this game. What is driving us to get it over the finish line? Because investing this much time into a game with no concrete purpose would be crazy, right?
We are serious about seeing Interference through because we know that it’s going to be a narrative experience that’s not exactly like anything else that’s been made before it. We’ve been working with two brilliant storytellers to craft true-to-life dialogue and build it into a compelling interactive narrative framework. All the while we’ve continued to explore the idea that the player can participate in a game’s story without being the driving force behind it.
In Interference, the player is not the most important figure in the game’s world. They’re not even the most important figure in the particular story we’re telling. They’re only connected to the action via a two-way radio connection, which can be totally ignored if the player so desires. But the story is still gonna happen with or without them.
We feel that this approach to storytelling is refreshing because it’s more true to the consequences of real life decision-making, which in turn make the narrative stakes feel more real. Indecisiveness in real life doesn’t mean lingering on the dialogue options while you run to look up which narrative path will yield the best quest rewards. Indecisiveness in real life can end friendships and cost lives, and we want a game that captures that in some way.
We all love being the center of the universe in games from time to time, but what effect does this have on storytelling? Can true player freedom and a realistic sense of narrative consequence coexist in a game? We’re out to prove that they can.
A New Trailer
Finally, we’re very, VERY excited to announce our first official trailer for Interference! If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out right here:
That’s all for now, but we will have much more in the coming weeks, so we encourage you to follow us on Twitter, check out our TIGSource thread, and join our mailing list! We’d love to hear from you so please don’t hesitate to reach out on any of those platforms with your thoughts.
Until next time!
Brad and Jared