Song of the Deep

Song of the Deep
File:Song of the deep cover.png
Developer(s)	Insomniac Games
Publisher(s)	GameTrust
Platforms	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release date(s)
Genre(s)	Metroidvania
Mode(s)	Single-player

Song of the Deep is an upcoming Metroidvania-style video game being developed by Insomniac Games. In the game, the player controls Merryn, who crafts a makeshift submarine to search for her father, a missing fisherman. The game is due for release on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. In addition to digital distribution, the retail chain GameStop is collaborating with Insomniac to release physical copies of the game, the chain's first foray into such distribution.

Plot and gameplay

Song of the Deep has the player control Merryn, a 12-year-old girl who loves her father, a fisherman, even when he tells her tall tales of his adventures. When her father goes missing at sea one day, she has a vision of him being trapped at the depths of the ocean. Determined to find him, she crafts a submarine and gear to explore the ocean, and is startled to see that many of her father's tales were actually true.

The game plays as a two-dimensional side-scroller in the style of a Metroidvania game. Areas of the game's world require the player to locate special improvements for Merryl and her equipment to surpass obstacles and explore further. While there are enemies in the game that can harm Merryl, the game is aimed less towards combat and more on exploration and puzzle solving, with some emphasis on the nature of how objects behavior underwater.

Development

Song of the Deep is being developed by a small, fifteen-person team at Insomniac Games. Called a "passion project" by Insomniac's chief creative officer, Brian Hastings, the game was inspired by Irish mythology, the visual appearance of the Cliffs of Moher, by the developer's fans that had responded favorably and identify with the characters they have created in past games, and in part by Hasting's ten-year-old daughter whom he wanted to give her a heroic figure to look towards. The choice of a Metroidvania-style game, according to Hastings, "just something we've never done and we wanted to". The approach to the game, focusing more on the exploration of the world rather than combat, was to make the game more like a "children's science museum on an alien planet". The game will be presented interspersed with artbook as if from a children's book, and Insomniac is working with Sterling Publishing to release a companion children's book for the title.

The retail chain GameStop will help to distribute physical copies of the game through its stores. The partnership between GameStop and Insomniac grew from a conversion about a year prior to the game's announcement, between Insomniac's Ted Price and GameStop's Mark Stanley, in charge of the company's development of new ventures. Stanley has spoken to Price about GameStop reaching more directly to players. Price had shown Stanley Song of the Deep, which had already been in development for some time, and their approach to the game's world. The two saw opportunities to work together to promote the title favorably for both companies, and formed the distribution agreement. Price notes that while GameStop has been fully supportive of the effort, Insomniac has full creative control on the title. Stanley affirmed that GameStop is staying out of the creative process, and decisions such as GameStop branding would be made to make sure Insomniac and the game is successful. GameStop is also considering using its ThinkGeek marketing division to produce tie-in merchandise for the game. Stanley considers this their first foray into working this closely with a developer directly, and is using the experience to explore other potential options for GameStop. In April 2016, GameStop announced it was forming a GameTrust publishing division which Song of the Deep and other titles will be published under.

External links

• Official website