Lorne Lanning Laments 'The Brutal Ballad Of Fangus Klot' That Never Was

After anticipating the incident with EA (which published OWI's Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath on Xbox in 2005) "unworkable," Lanning recounted, OWI incited to Majesco to account and tell the Fangus project, other Xbox diversion built on Stranger's core framework. But usually a month after the game's announcement, "the shenanigans started" and OWI close down its growth studio. "Sometimes developers obtain dismissed by publishers and infrequently developers glow publishers," Lanning mentioned coyly, "and that's may all we should say about it."

Publisher "incompetence" aside, Fangus did sound similar to an unusual pitch: A "close to the Earth" dog-man herdsman incited "pit fighting" worker -- to the Russian-like cat mafia -- who escapes his years-long seizure a tougher or stronger hired gun deceased set on reprisal and the ransom of his people ("the eternal legendary fighting between cats and dogs," in other words). Also, Fangus has depot rabies and "would manage a herd of voracious sheep-like creatures to take down enemies and compromise puzzles," according to GI's description. "We longed for it to be unequivocally hardcore," Lanning concluded.

What sounds flattering sufficient similar to an extraordinary diversion idea to us is not always such an easy sell on the mainstream market. It's no widen of the aptitude to see because this stretch-of-the-imagination never done it sufficient over the draft phase. Not that Fangus is just a memory, but Oddworld Inhabitants has schooled its lesson. "[We] are not focused on carrying out story games in that way anymore," Lanning explained. "That doesn't meant that we wouldn't permit the skill to other developer who does very great story games. But we're aiming for a not similar sort of chemistry all together. We're seeking more at where amicable gaming and networking is colliding. We're seeking more at free-to-play piece sales rsther than than $60 of product."

After being "blown away" by the accepting of its back catalogue on Steam , OWI has incited to developer Just Add Water to reconstitute Stranger's Wrath for PSN. Beyond that, OWI seems be seeking in to a freemium-based expansion of Oddworld, upheld by micro-payments from intent players. "Our concentration is not to erect big, long story games," Lanning reiterated. "Our concentration is to erect a unequivocally abounding mythos where people obtain to rivet in their own narrative, and that sounds summary -- we can't say sufficient more about it, but that's where we think things are heading. So the idea of office building other Stranger, for us personally, is not even on the radar."

[Pictured: Fangus casing art; source: Game Informer ]