Press release:
French production company Forge Animation has launched a kickstarter campaign to help raise funds for the creation of a WINDWALKERS video game. Along with the video game, which has been greenlit on Steam, the Windwalkers story will be produced into an animated film and graphic novel, all based on the award winning, cult-classic Sci-Fi novel La Horde du Contrevent by Alain Damasio. The kickstarter campaign began on February 4 and runs through March 4, 2015. Fans can donate directly at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/forgeanimation/windwalkers-the-game.
Forge Animation is an artist-run collective made up of international game designers, animators and musicians that have worked on celebrated movies and games such as Final Fantasy, Avatar, The Hobbit and more.
The universe of WINDWALKERS is a dynamic world shaped by the wind, where tornadoes, erosion, and storms are not calamities, but a part of everyday life. The world is in constant movement and change, which both helps and hinders the player. Following the wind is the only path to reaching the ultimate goal - but while the wind is the player’s guide through this world, it is also the very thing that could destroy them.
“The WINDWALKERS project is a rich, complex and enthralling masterpiece for fans of great Sci-Fi storytelling across all media,” said Hervé Trouillet, founder of Forge Animation. “With the support of our Kickstarter community, we will produce an epic transmedia experience that will bring this fan favorite story to the rest of the world, for the first time, as it has never been translated outside of the French language until now.”
The game’s original soundtrack will be directed by Starwalker, a duo made up of Jean-Benoit Dunkel and Bardi Johansson, from the french EDM band AIR. Starwalker will be working with Guillaume Roussel, a contributing composer on the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ series among others.
Alain Damasio’s “La Horde du Contrevent” received the Grand Prix de l’imaginaire, the national French award, for Sci-Fi and Speculative Fiction in 2006. The story will be translated into English for the first time this year, with the first chapter released in the USA on Friday, Feb 13th. WINDWALKERS continues the novel’s epic saga of a civilization dedicating its existence to seeking the ‘Upper-Reaches,” the creator and destroyer of life and the source of all winds. The first 33 expeditions, named Hordes, failed. The 34th Horde could possibly be the very last one.
Forge Animation’s three creative productions – game, animated film and graphic novel – stem from a unique international team of renowned artists and creative talent, including:
•Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy, Vampire Hunter D)
•Wayne D. Barlowe (Avatar, Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire)
•Koji Morimoto (Akira, Animatrix)
•Oscar Chichoni (Pacific Rim, The Hobbit)
•George Hull (Cloud Atlas, Jupiter Ascending)
•Eric Henninot (XIII)
•Frédéric Perrin (Beauty and the Beast)
•Takuhito Kusanagi (Detective Conan, Blue Submarine)
WINDWALKERS: The video game
Combining action, adventure and survival gameplay, this multiplayer RPG will immerse gamers into the worldwide quest of a Windwalker, hellbent on finding the source of all winds. In a devastated world perpetually shaped by natural forces, team work will become key to the player’s survival. Players will be able to unite as a Horde to overcome the multiple obstacles they will face – beasts, pirates, dark political intrigues and the “Chasers”, mysterious fighters continuously keeping watch and ready to pounce. Production of the game is led by Lionel Lovisart, who spent ten years in Japan working on Metal Gear for Konami. The game is being developed for PC and Mac and is projected to be released in early 2017.
WINDWALKERS: The animated movie
Oscar nominated script writer Iris Yamashita, together with Alain Damasio, blend their talents for a full length 3D CGI animated film. The movie will offer a new take on the original story and will dive deep into the main characters, their affinities, their strengths in the face of adversity, and their destiny as a people and as individuals.
WINDWALKERS: The graphic novel
As a graphic novel, Windwalkers will explore the life of each character as well as offer different story viewpoints.
About Forge Animation
Based in Aix-En-Provence, France, Forge Animation is a new animation studio focused on transmedia productions (games, films, comics) for the digital generation. For more information, visit www.windwalkersproject.com.
Article by Nick
