Darwin’s Paradox Set to Be Spooky, Also Cute
Between Arkane and Focus Entertainment (formerly Focus Home), France’s AAA gaming scene has grown substantially. Now several key members from each company are coming together as new studio ZeDrimeTim. The group aims to capture the spirit of animated films while capturing them in an interactive form: starting with Darwin’s Paradox.
Darwin’s Paradox, is a 1950’s sci-fi comedy horror title like Inside and Little Nightmares. Currently there’s only one screen shot, pictured below. The project is coming to current-gen consoles and PC, under development in Unreal Engine 5. Given the influences inspired, it sounds like players can expect a 2.5D platforming experience. Perhaps with the sci-fi inspiration, we’ll do more than lurk about in the shadow of towering monsters. It has a flexible release window of 2024.
The team founding ZeDrimeTim is composed of high level employees from both Arkane and Focus Home. Romuald Capron, former studio director of Arkane Lyon is joined by Cédric Lagarrigue, founder and former CEO of Focus Home. They’re partnered together with the talents of Mika Tanguy and Gilles Aujard. Each will bring their experience from cinema and animation.
Assemble the Team
Several of the team’s leads had thoughts to share during their announcement.
Mika Tanguy, general manager of ZeDrimeTim, who has supervised visual effects of many films and collaborated with the greatest directors. “Feature films and animation are increasingly using video game tools such as Unreal Engine. ZeDrimeTim studio’s goal is unique and original[.] [I]t brings movie and animation artists, together with video game talents around authentic productions.”
Romuald Capron, ex-studio director of Arkane Lyon is part of this adventure as associate and executive producer. “After [a lengthy], full career in video games, I wanted to get involved in a project on a human scale. I was immediately attracted by the art direction and gameplay mechanics of Darwin’s Paradox[.] I’m really excited to help the team at ZeDrimeTim turn that vision into a game with a strong identity.“
Cédric Lagarrigue, founder of the publisher Focus Home Interactive, which he managed for twenty years: “I have had the good fortune in my career to discover and support studios and their games which, despite their limited budgets, became great hits. Darwin’s Paradox has the ingredients that falls into this category. The excellent playable prototype and the positioning of the studio convinced me to invest in the project and accompany the team in this exciting adventure.”
ZeDrimeTim
The studio has already raised the funds to go into production, between the founders and investing from Bpifrance, the French Sovereign Fund. For more on the company, you can check out www.zedrimetim.com and find them on Twitter: @ZeDrimetim
While we wait for Darwin’s Paradox, for some cute 2.5D shenanigans, why not check out Time Loader!
