The development of the psychological and personal story of cult-hit
Deadly Premonition was the consequence of the cancellation of another project, Gamasutra has learned, as part of its
latest feature interview.
Prior to
Deadly Premonition, its developer Access Games had been working on a sequel to
Spy Fiction, a PlayStation 2 stealth game published by Sammy Studios. When the publisher cancelled the second game in the series after six months of development -- despite the developer taking all of its suggestions to improve the title -- he knew it was time to change methods.
"I considered that with
Spy Fiction 2, we followed all of the publisher's ideas and feedback -- and it still got cancelled. And so internally, I told the people around me, 'If we continue to work in this style, the cycle is only going to repeat.' I wanted to use a different method; to be strong, bold with my concepts, and make what we wanted to make."
The failure of
Spy Fiction was not just a wake up call from a production standpoint; it also drove the creative direction of
Deadly Premonition, Swery reveals.
"
Spy Fiction is this kind of unrealistic, heroic world, and once it was cancelled, I started thinking of working [within] a more realistic, human world..."
"People live their own lives, and they have their own perspective, but it's important to offer things that give your player something to think about even when they aren't playing your game. When I was a kid, I used to watch a lot of fantasy and science fiction, but as I grew up I matured, or learned that in many cases those are just lies; escapism. As we continue to make games, we should use fiction, of course, but I'd like to make games that are believable."
The
full interview, which explores the unusual circumstances that lead to the creation of the cult hit, is live now on Gamasutra.
