Posted by reclaimerzzzzz
www.ign.com
The new version of The Tomorrow Children is planned for release sometime in 2022, published directly by Q-Games on PlayStation 4, with backwards compatibility for PS5. Other platforms may follow – Cuthbert says there is no contractual obligation to remain as a PlayStation exclusive title, so the only hurdles are the additional work and resources required to port it.
To distinguish the new version from the old one, Cuthbert says he is considering adding a "Director's Cut"-style subtitle to the name, although nothing is yet decided.
Players of the original game will not be able to transfer their saved data, as privacy laws make this an impossibility but, since it will partly be a new experience, Cuthbert feels it makes sense to have players start over anyway.
Cuthbert also discussed the changes he plans to make to The Tomorrow Children's gameplay ahead of its new release. Cuthbert is a master programmer who famously got a 3D game engine running on the Game Boy back in the late 1980s, earning him a job working with Nintendo on Star Fox. He was also a main programmer on the original version of The Tomorrow Children, and currently he is working on the new iteration himself – a process he describes as "fixing" the game.
The Tomorrow Children was originally released as a free-to-play game with microtransactions, a business model that was decided a little over halfway through its development, in line with SIE's strategy at the time (The Tomorrow Children came soon after 2014's similarly ill-fated free to play SIE Japan Studio title, Destiny of Spirits).
When it returns, The Tomorrow Children will be a regular premium purchase, with the microtransactions removed – in line with how it was originally conceived.
"In the game, there is a black market, which was our monetization area," explained Cuthbert. "That was originally in the game, but not as a free-to-play thing. The game is a parody of Marxist vs. Capitalist societies, so the black market was just meant to be a Capitalist option, to show how those two systems can work together. You could get the feeling of altruism by pursuing the Marxist style of thinking, where it's all for one, and then you have the black market side, where you get the technology you pay for. Because of that, it actually worked well having the black market be monetized with real money in terms of the game's lore. But it wasn't originally designed for that."
Since the monetization element was intended to cover the original game's running server costs, the new version will be hosted peer to peer, without relying on a central server. One major advantage of this change is that the game is less likely to be rendered unplayable, as the original version currently is, because players will be able to host games for as long as the PlayStation Network exists.
Other changes are being based on feedback from existing fans of the game, as well as internal playtesting. "We have the great benefit of retrospect, as well a huge fan base who already played it for a year, so we can just ask them what they think," said Cuthbert. It will also include some brand new content, although the details are still secret.
The Tomorrow Children was one of the only games that used ray tracing on PS4, and its advanced technical backend along with very strong art direction means it still looks striking alongside modern games. Also, its loose social elements were hugely prescient, mirrored later in games like Death Stranding, and now that there is an awareness of "strand" type games, along with an enhanced demand for online co-op play, The Tomorrow Children's use of drop-in, drop-out live collaboration makes it seem very well suited to the modern age. "I hope we can get the game out to the fans soon, and maybe even reach some new fans too," Cuthbert told us.
How Q-Games Got the Rights From Sony to Bring Back Lost PS4 Exclusive The Tomorrow Children - IGN
Dylan Cuthbert has told IGN Japan how he convinced Sony to let him regain the IP for lost PS4 exclusive The Tomorrow Children – and how it's changing when it returns from the dead.
