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The Invincible – Interview with Starward Industries

The Invincible is a sci-fi adventure game where you search for lost crewmates on an unexplored planet. Starward Industries tells us more.

The Invincible is an upcoming first-person adventure game set in a hard sci-fi world full of atompunk gadgets, an interstellar space race, and a quick-witted astrobiologist exploring a strange planet, Regis III.

Inspired by the novel of the same written by legendary sci-fi author Stanislaw Lem, The Invincible promises mystery and adventure rendered with stunning graphical detail.

We talked to the game’s Polish developer Starward Industries to learn more about the game, its influences, its development, and when it will come out.

You can learn more about The Invincible at the official website here. You can also find Starward Industries on Twitter here.

Tell us about your team, Starward Industries. How big is it and how did it come together? What have your team members previously worked on?

Starward Industries is a team of over 30 individuals, composed of many industry veterans who have worked on titles like The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Call of Juarez, and Dead Island.

The development team has been meticulously assembled by the founder and CEO, Marek Markuszewski. What brought us together is a shared desire to create a new level of quality, to chart a new course in storytelling and gaming experience, where alongside entertainment, there is also a profound reflection on the world.

When did development on the game start, and why was this concept chosen?

The vision to create this kind of game took root in Marek Markuszewski’s mind many years ago. He aimed to craft an immersive gameplay experience where humanity as a species and an individual human with all their dilemmas and challenges would take center stage.

It was during this time that he stumbled upon the book by Stanisław Lem, a globally renowned futurologist and writer. To him, Lem’s work appeared as the perfect source material to convey a narrative about the boundaries of knowledge and the fragility of humanity.

The actual development process began around 5 years ago when Marek, alongside the game’s Art Director, Wojciech Ostrycharz, embarked on defining the game’s features. It was during this period that the idea of an atompunk stylized art emerged, an aesthetic consistently championed by Ostrycharz.

The Invincible is based on the motifs of the Stanislaw Lem novel of the same name. What else inspired the game and its atompunk aesthetic?

Wojciech Ostrycharz drew inspiration for the atompunk aesthetic from the covers of iconic science fiction books from the 1950s and 1960s. One of the pivotal figures in this regard was the illustrator Chris Foss.

The design was also influenced by the ergonomic sketches of Galina Balashova, an engineer responsible for spacecraft concepts in the USSR.

Lem’s work has previously been explored in literature and film. What was unique about approaching it from a video game angle?

“The Invincible” invites players to an intimately immersive experience, a journey and adventure laden with moral dilemmas on an alien planet. By creating a game, we had a chance to squeeze out all of this medium’s capabilities, allowing players to shape the narrative, engage in moral debates, and gradually uncover mysteries.

Players are not merely witnesses to events, but active participants; thus, when choosing specific dialogues or making decisions, they are prompted to reflect on the nature of humanity and their own selves.

How long will a single playthrough of the full game be?

The length of a single playthrough can vary depending on the player’s choices, exploration, and engagement with the world.

On average, players can expect a playthrough to last around one weekend, because our idea was to create a game that you can immerse yourself in no matter how much free time you have.

The Invincible is a stunning game to look at. How was Starward Industries able to bring AAA visuals to an indie game?

They are the result of a fusion between the unique vision created by our Art Director coupled with the experience of our art team.

From the very outset, our aim was to achieve visual clarity, an unburdened form, vibrant colors, potent storytelling within science frames, and distinct stylization.

The community showed us that we can already take pride in our accomplishments in this regard. We are delighted by the overwhelmingly positive reception of our graphics.

Will there be more demos or opportunities to play the game leading up to its release?

The nearest opportunity to play our two demos will take place during Gamescom.

When is the game releasing and on what platforms?

The exact release date remains a secret as closely guarded as the scientific phenomena on Regis III. However, we can say that the game is set to launch this year on next-generation consoles and PCs simultaneously.

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Thank you for reading our interview with Starward Industries on The Invincible! Also check out our walkthroughs of the game’s first demo and second demo!

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