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Thatgamecompany, the studio behind gems like Journey and Sky: Children of the Light, has always expressed itself through more zen video game experiences, it seems – or, at least, co-founder Jenova Chen certainly has.
Chen recalls when his game-making journey began back in 2005 in a new interview with GamesIndustry.biz, explaining that he needed money for his tuition… and the University of Southern California was offering a gaming innovation grant for a pitch "that was the opposite of what the mainstream media was condemning after the Columbine shooting."
In other words, the polar opposite of Rockstar Games' beloved Grand Theft Auto series.
The Thatgamecompany lead says as much. "I was like, 'What is the opposite of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas?'" The opposite was Cloud – a wholesome game revolving around a boy dreaming of flying while stuck in a hospital bed.
Chen (and fellow students) hoped to create a peaceful experience out of Cloud… which wasn't exactly common in the era of Assassin's Creed, Half-Life, Halo, Resident Evil, and, of course, GTA.
Nor was it popular – at least not with Valve, the mastermind company behind the likes of Half-Life 2 and the Portal games. Not according to Chen, anyway, who actually tried to pitch Cloud to the house of Steam himself.
"We pitched to pretty much every publisher you can imagine, including Valve," he admits. "Back in 2005, Valve was like, 'We only publish games with guns, our players like to shoot.'" Sounds about right for the time, honestly.
It's important to note that Cloud did end up finding its way to the public, and you can still download it for free online. As for Valve… well, it's still known best for shooters like the Counter-Strike and Half-Life series, but I'd say there's nothing quite as out there as GTA under its belt.
And, as it stands, games with a violent edge continue to prove popular – heck, just take a look at all of the hype surrounding GTA 6 and its upcoming launch.
That's not to say that cozy games – like Thatgamecompany's own lineup – haven't found a home in today's world. They're bigger than ever before, with roughly 80% of my own Steam library being some shape or form of relaxing experience.
