Exploring the Future: Gratitude and Kindness.

Recently we shared our latest blog with a quote that said, “The truest indication of gratitude is to return what you are grateful for” by Richard Paul Evans; and it couldn’t define better what our future looks like as we continue to work towards our purpose.

We have revised everything we went through with The Silver Lining, what we learned with Cognition and even having our endurance test with Moebius, but as of February 2014 Phoenix became so much more than development – we have opened up to not just continue to grow but inviting others to grow with us. As a community we understand that we find strength in everything we do for others, we have lived our fears and hopes publicly because our family has always been inside and outside of the team. We have found support, love and meaning in giving of ourselves to exactly where we come from, we really don’t know any other way.

With the Phoenix anniversary drawing to a close, we considered it important to put all of the family together because they are a part of us too. Besides the games we have developed, we also welcomed Mad Orange and Jack Del Nero with the story of Face Noir; Icarus Games with Lost Civilization, which is a remix of 2005’s Nibiru: Age of Secrets; The Game Kitchen with their “love letter to Lovecraft” The Last Door; and of course our long time adventure friends Infamous Quests with Quest for Infamy. I must say it is quite a humbling experience being able to have met such great people who work just as hard and are just as passionate for what they believe in and to eventually be able to share their dreams as well.

Face Noir was our first serious project with publishing. It was a brave new step for Phoenix – up to that point we had always focused on creating and promoting our own games, but for the first time ever the team would be working with another studio in helping them bring the game to a wider audience. It was the whole PR, Marketing and Distribution platform, and while it was an exciting adventure it grew to be truly stressful because this wasn’t our game we were dealing with – it was Mad Orange’s dream. All things considered, Face Noir had a pretty solid presence. Just like Moebius that came after, it presented such polar opinions and strong feelings, but I’m happy to say most people got around to appreciate the raw content and story it brings, from the heavy topics to the game itself.

Moving forward, we got Moebius through almost as the same time we did with Lost Civilization. This being a hidden object kind of game it had quite a shy reception; however, everything that has come through has been quite positive. Lost Civilization was a game we chose and love working with because it does bring a few twists to the genre, coupled with a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack and a great art style.

Then we have got The Last Door, which is the current title from The Game Kitchen we are working with right now. It presents quite the unique story telling – low res, high quality horror taking inspiration from authors such as H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe to craft its pixelated horror story. All of these studios which we hope to cover not just game content, but also team stories to share inspired in our motto, “Every Game Has A Story”.

Last but not least is our latest confirmed IP Quest for Infamy, set to be released in June. It is crafted by Infamous Quests, a studio that shares many similarities with us including their love of Sierra, which brought them together to create remakes of King’s Quest IIIand Space Quest II. Seeing Quest For Infamy’s evolution has been an amazing journey, from its beginnings as a Quest For Glory spin-off into its own standalone game.

All of this work mentioned is already announced and known. Unfortunately, I can’t confirm the IP’s coming via publishing for what’s left of 2014 yet, but I can confirm we have about 4 games lined up out of which one is a community favorite so far – Gabriel Knight: Sins Of The Fathers.

I must say that we knew about Gabriel Knight clearly the moment Pinkerton Road brought the project onto the table, but it never ceased to be a surprise. It was quite a challenge to get through making this a reality. Sadly I can’t disclose much of it, but I can say that after many months of work and negotiations, Gabriel Knight is finally going to happen. This has be to date our most remarkable moment in Phoenix – not just bringing it into reality but being able to accomplish as much as we have with it. This is yet again another dream come true for many of us.

There is however one spoiler that I will share with all of you: You are about to see more of Erica Reed very soon. We are actively working with more of the Cognition world, and while I can’t give you a specific date of when and what is coming through, do know that there will be familiar faces as well as new ones. I believe in a couple of months we may be ready to announce what’s coming in Cognition’s world. One of the most important things to consider about this news is the fact that this has been a community choice. We put a lot of new projects on the table to consider, but while reading the comments and exploring all of our feedback, it was obvious that you all had made the choice for us.

Nothing but gratitude and kindness. It is impossible to foresee any future without everyone that supports us in and out through every project and this is exactly what we hope to share with the Phoenix team and everyone that we welcome as part of the Phoenix family.

The future holds many more adventures, more games, and a lot of work; and we are quite happy and thankful for all of it.

Say Mistage
Social Media Director
Phoenix Online Studios