Everybody's Gone to the Rapture No Longer Planned for the PC

[Shawn Zipay]

The Chinese Room, the team behind Dear Esther and the upcoming Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs dropped a bomb on PC gamers today when it was revealed that Everybody's Gone to the Rapture is now a PlayStation 4 exclusive. The title that was once announced as coming only to the PC now no longer has a PC release in sight.

Why the sudden and drastic change in plans? Dan Pinchbeck from The Chinese Room explains.

"So the thinking went like this. We don’t have enough money or production expertise to make this game without help. We don’t think we can raise enough through Kickstarter or public alpha to make this happen. We could do with production support on a game this scale. We’ve always wanted to make a console game. Publishers have bad reputations all too often. Hey, Sony Santa Monica are great though. We’ve met them a few times and really like them and their attitude.

"Also, PS4 is starting to look very cool as a platform. All eggs thrown into singular basket, Sony Santa Monica contacted, everybody likes each other, lots of love for the project. Long dark night of the soul mulling over implications of shifting across to console. Mix of pragmatism and excitement about the possibilities win out."

The team needed money to continue to function and Sony was offering them exactly that. What about the PC gamers that have stood by and supported the development studio from the start?

"Dear Esther fans were very much in our thoughts, but enough of us are multi-platform gamers to make this work for us. And we’re in this for the long game, so I can’t see us not returning to PC, or doing whatever we can to keep that fan base as we owe them a great deal.

"But part of that is following our instincts about how we develop and find stability as a studio and this is going to be part of the process. And without sounding like a bought man, the PS4 is genuinely a really, really cool platform, and if people have never bought into console gaming before, this is the time."

That isn't for sure saying there will never be a PC release, but right now there is only the PlayStation 4 version confirmed as coming. So, what is Everybody's Gone to the Rapture? It's all about the end of the world.

You play the role of a scientist, trapped in the very second of the apocalypse, and the game is about discovering what has happened. You do this by exploring a large open-world environment, and interacting with the objects, places and people you find to gradually unlock and put together the story.

[Stev0esque]

I have a feeling a lot of people aren't going to take this well.

[K-16]

Somehow, the word Rapture was enough for my brain to magically re-construct the entire article into saying "BioShock: Infinite's upcoming DLC involving Rapture has been changed to a PS4 exclusive." Welp, time for me to book an appointment and see a doctor and get my brain scanned; there must be a bug in my brain and it needs fixing.

[CptainCrunch]

Man, I guess that game would be expensive if even a kickstarter wont help.

That or no one wants it on PC.

[Stev0esque]

Man, I guess that game would be expensive if even a kickstarter wont help.

That or no one wants it on PC.

I can't remember but I think it was the same guy that claimed he wanted to make a "Non Combat game in similar vein to S.T.A.L.K.E.R". If he is that same guy, As a STALKER fan that kinda pissed me off in a "What a pretentious douche" sorta way.

[Shawn Zipay]

How in the world could that statement piss you off? It reads like he enjoyed the atmosphere of STALKER and wanted to replicate that but without having to shoot people... like in STALKER.

[Stev0esque]

How in the world could that statement piss you off? It reads like he enjoyed the atmosphere of STALKER and wanted to replicate that but without having to shoot people... like in STALKER.

Mainly due to the fact that it was a short time after STALKER 2 was cancelled and GSC was split (again). There was also a few others who kept saying they wanted to do other "STALKER like" games (Sir you are being hunted being one of them.) and explicitly mentioned how much they were like STALKER. Its a mix of raw-feelings and Ultra-fanboyishness.

Now I'm not saying any of these are terrible projects but I get pretty possessive of the game (Might consider picking up SYABH), probably something to do with the fact that after years playing it I still don't entirely understand Shadow of Chernobyl as a westerner, but have this weird sense of offense if someone acts like they do. Watching one guy on the GSC forums Still picking apart the Vanilla game for years even to this day also made me feel that.

Basically, just imagine it being a Gaming Version of Dark Side of the Moon (better example would be a bands final album before they broke up, but I can't think of anything "classic" that fits this), and have me (neckbearded old fan) scoff everytime there is a (relatively, mind you) mainstream news report saying that someone was inspired by it and wants to emulate it. Admittedly nonsensical but that is my position.

[Shawn Zipay]

I don't take that from what he said at all. We've seen how Dear Esther came out. It oozes in rich atmosphere, just as the STALKER series did. And, it doesn't have guns, which is what he aimed for.

I seriously don't think anything he said was him saying he was going to emulate or copy STALKER at all. He just wanted to invoke the same sort of feelings and presence that game series did. And, IMO, he came pretty close with Dear Esther and may come close again with Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.

[jimykx]

"We don’t think we can raise enough through Kickstarter or public alpha to make this happen."

I'd like to see them trying. speacially after having said this.

[Shawn Zipay]

"We don’t think we can raise enough through Kickstarter or public alpha to make this happen."

I'd like to see them trying. speacially after having said this.

I'd imagine they needed far more than what they felt would be feasible through Kickstarter. They initially only expected to sell 20,000 copies of Dear Esther but ended up selling 750K. It seems like they like to be conservative and play things safe and getting a publisher in Sony was probably the safest and most sure bet for them.