After back-to-back JRPG and Metroidvania hits, Sea of Stars dev says it already has the theme for its next game
Sabotage Studio says that it won't have to worry about "those 18 hour days anymore"
The developer behind Sea of Stars will focus on "balance" as the theme of its third game.
Speaking to 12DOVE in a new interview on Sea of Stars and The Messenger, creative director Thierry Boulanger revealed a few new details about Sabotage Studio's upcoming third game, after initially having teased a third game in the works earlier this month.
"The third game, I'm hoping it will be more about balance, figuring it out," Boulanger told us. The interview focused primarily on the themes of mental health in Sabotage's games, and how Boulanger's own mental health has factored into the development of The Messenger and Sea of Stars.
Boulanger is now finding a better work-life balance in his own life, and as such, Sabotage's third game will reflect this theme of balance. "I felt like I was on borrowed time. But I don't feel like that anymore, so now I'm looking more at balance and I'm learning with the help of my colleagues not to do those 18 hour days anymore," the Sea of Stars lead continued.
"The Messenger was ninjas and time travel, Sea of Stars was an eclipse with the sun and moon. I will say that for the third game there is an equivalent, very simple theme, like sure let's have an adventure with those kinds of ingredients," he continued.
Before all that though, we've got Sea of Stars DLC to look forward to. Boulanger confirmed in our interview that Sabotage's staffers are resting right now, before work begins on the DLC package in October. That's all while a small team establishes the "pipeline" of the third game, so that when the DLC is wrapped up, the existing team can transfer smoothly over to the next project.
Sea of Stars beat its yearly sales goal in a single week, despite being available on both the PS Plus and Xbox Game Pass subscription services.
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Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.