It sounds like Tequila Works' new Stadia game Gylt will come to other platforms too
"Rest assured, everyone will be able to play the game."
Tequila Works' new game Gylt was announced by Google as a Stadia exclusive. It says it in the title of the announcement trailer, embedded below, and in the video's description. But what kind of exclusive is it?
I ask because Gylt is currently in a problematic position. Problematic because the only way to play it, when it arrives as a Stadia launch title on 30th November, is forking out £120 for the Founder's Edition bundle, because until the Base model comes out in 2020, you have no other choice.
Have you got £120 for Tequila Works' new game? Do you even want Stadia? What else are you going to do? It's why I asked Tequila Works for clarification this week.
"OK we haven't confirmed that it's an exclusive yet," came the curious answer from Raúl Rubio Munárriz, co-founder and creative director of the studio - "that's a question we cannot answer".
Hang on, it's not an exclusive - or do you mean it's a timed exclusive? "We haven't answered that yet and I cannot answer yet."
But Gylt could come to other platforms? "I cannot answer yet."
What about the problematic message you're sending to fans who have to pay £120 to play your new game? "Maybe that would be a question for Google." A frustrating string of responses (which certainly feel like they belong to an exclusivity deal). But then a glimmer of hope!
"Of course, we will try to make Gylt accessible for everyone," Raúl Rubio Munárriz said. "I guess it's not a design question, it's more of a business question. Today is not the time to answer that question but rest assured, everyone will be able to play the game."
Gylt was announced at the Stadia Connect event before E3. Like Rime, Tequila Work's most notable work, Gylt will be a narrative exploration game. But it's darker, moodier. Gylt follows a missing girl, alone in an eerie town called Bethelwood, hiding from monsters and demeaned by vicious slogans on walls. "No one is gonna miss you," they tell her. "Pathetic! Loser!"
It's, as the Gylt website says, "A journey where you face your worst fears and are confronted with the emotional impact of your actions." And, as in Rime, there's a deeper meaning than meets the eye.
"Definitely," project lead David Canela told me. "In fact, the thing we are talking about here is really bad." I have my inklings what it's about but just as the team doesn't want to discuss it, for fear of spoilers, nor do I - just in case I guess right!
Gylt has been in development for roughly a year and will total around a year-and-a-half of development, maybe a bit more, when it comes out. It's much more in keeping with the development times Tequila Works wants. Rime, which took a long and turbulent five years, was an outlier to say the least.
But despite being a shorter project, Gylt isn't necessarily a shorter game. David Canela couldn't be specific but did say, "It's longer than Rime." And for reference, Rime took roughly 10 hours to play through.
Gylt sounds like another intriguing prospect from an imaginative studio, then. Let's just hope we all have the chance to play it.