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If you've ever wanted to own a personal slice of Tinseltown, then Blockbuster Inc. will soon provide the opportunity to build the studio of your dreams from the ground up. In this upcoming management sim developed by Super Sly Fox and published by Ancient Forge, you'll control every aspect of the movie making business, from constructing the film lot to hiring employees and dressing the sets ready for action.
If you have fond memories of 2005's BAFTA award-winning game The Movies then this may be sounding familiar to you, and indeed the team have not shied away from the fact that a lot of inspiration has been taken from that classic title. However, Blockbuster Inc. is taking the best parts of that previous release to create a spiritual successor in the movie sim genre, providing considerable depth and detail while still remaining accessible to players of all ages.
To get your studio up and running, you'll need to use the intuitive Build Mode to construct the required facilities, which is reminiscent of The Sims series as you drag and drop various rooms into place. Different types of rooms will also need to have specific furniture installed so they can function, but these are easily added through the menus and whole rooms including their contents can be duplicated to save you some time when putting your lot together.
You'll then need to hire your staff, including the crew that keeps everything running behind the scenes, and the creatives that help with writing, producing, and directing your productions. Naturally, your films will also need stars, so it's up to you to scout for talent among the ranks of aspiring actors – but be aware that you'll need to cater for their increasing demands as their fame is on the rise.
However, Blockbuster Inc. really shows its true potential when you start making your own movies, as there's a huge amount of customization available to play with. You can build your film set from scratch, and over time you'll unlock furniture and props from almost 20 different movie genres to place in there. It's then down to you to direct the action, by deciding how the actors behave, what effects to use, and how the cameras move.
With filming complete, it's time to head into post-production using the powerful video editor. With that you can drop in sound effects, trim down scenes, and apply SFX to really make your production pop. Creating successful films will build your studio's reputation, and if you keep making the right choices then you could end up winning accolades at the prestigious Filmwood Awards!
Blockbuster Inc. releases for PC on June 6, but to help fill the time until then you can download the prologue on Steam right now, and play through a couple of years in the movie production business for a taste of what's to come. You can also wishlist Blockbuster Inc. on Steam to stay up to date with the latest developments, as well as following them on Facebook, Twitter, and Tik Tok.
