Telltale Games sadly went away for a while but has thankfully returned thanks to some new backers. The studio has announced that one of the games it will be making under Telltale Games' new management will be based on the sci-fi space opera The Expanse.
The Expanse is a series of novels by James S. A. Corey and was adapted into a TV series that first aired on SyFy and then jumped to Amazon Prime. The hit series is entering its final season, and it was announced at The Game Awards that Telltale Games will be making an episodic game officially titled The Expanse: A Telltale Series based around Drummer, one of the series' most beloved characters. Telltale will be assisted by Life is Strange: True Colors developer Deck Nine.
Camina Drummer is a Belter, the name given to the people that grew up in the Asteroid Belt of the Solar System with most of their purpose being mining asteroids for resources to send to Earth and Mars. Drummer, who will be portrayed by Cara Gee, is the leader of a ragtag crew of scavengers that does resource mining in the TV Show. This causes some political strife in the universe of The Expanse. The "Inners," as Earth and Mars are called, can be an overpowering force when dealing with The Belt. Because of this, living in The Belt is a constant fight for survival. Belt salvage crews sometimes take from unsuspecting mining ships contracted by Earth and Mars, sometimes by force. According to the press release by Telltale Games, Drummer will be part of the crew of The Artemis in The Expanse: A Telltale Series.
Deck Nine COO Jeff Litchford said to GameInformer in a press release that “Working with a fantastic IP like The Expanse is both daunting and thrilling. We wanted to pick a character and story that hadn’t already been told – one that players could really influence but that also stayed true to the books and series for the fans. The collaboration with Telltale has enabled us to bounce around ideas and approach things from the different perspectives each company brings to the adventure genre as we work to tell the best story possible.”
The Expanse: A Telltale Series will be a prequel to the TV show. As a precursor, fans of the franchise will get to experience some of the stories of how Drummer got the reputation she has. The gripping narrative of The Expanse offers a great playground for an episodic story by Telltale Games with assistance from Deck Nine. It's an exciting story for Telltale Games to delve into.
The announcement that Telltale Games will be working with Deck Nine is a shrewd move. As the arguable new leaders of episodic game stories thanks to the success of Life is Strange: True Colors, Deck Nine is a capable collaborator. As one of the finalists for The Game Awards' Best Narrative category, having Erika Mori as a finalist for Best Performance, and winner of the show's Games for Impact category, Deck Nine has the ability to build a meaningful story. With the prestige of Telltale games and the depth of The Expanse universe, the stars are the limit.
The Expanse: A Telltale Series is in development for PC and "leading consoles" according to Telltale Games.
Source: GameInformer