Brandon Sanderson, the acclaimed fantasy/sci-fi author that finished the Wheel of Time series, has just let slip that he’s developing a video game with a mystery studio.
Brandon Sanderson is one of the most prolific authors working in the fantasy/sci-fi genre, and after his recent work consulting on Amazon’s Wheel of Time adaptation it appears he has set his sights on a new medium altogether.
Unless you have been living under a rock the last few years you have probably heard of FromSoftware’s upcoming open-world action-RPG, Elden Ring. One of the things that has fans so excited about the game is that the lore has been co-developed by George R.R. Martin, author of the A Song of Ice and Fire series (the inspiration for HBO’s Game of Thrones).
Brandon Sanderson may be the next big literary figure to lend his talents to the video game industry, stating the following in a post on his online blog:
“I’ve been working on a video game for several years, and I suspect it will be announced this year. So, commence speculation! (Note: it’s not for one of my properties, but something new that I built with them. It’s a game company many of you will have heard of, but probably not the one you’re thinking about right now. Not that other one either.)”
So commence speculation we have! The first series that came to my mind was Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls; largely because of how successful they are, but also for how much they could use some help crafting interesting characters and plots. The series’ games are huge, and Brandon Sanderson’s talents certainly wouldn’t go amiss.
A few years back, Hidetaka Miyazaki and his incredible team of game designers, the creators of the DARK SOULS videogame series, reached out from Japan to ask me to help them create the backstory and history for a new game they were working on. https://t.co/M6CHxUoBdF
— George RR Martin (@GRRMspeaking) December 20, 2021
However, Sanderson does say that the property is something “new that I built with them” which, considering how established the Elder Scrolls series is, kind of disqualifies it. FromSoftware should also be ruled out due to how close we are to the release of Elden Ring.
The studios most likely to be working with Brandon Sanderson on a new IP, in my opinion, are probably Obsidian Entertainment (Pillars of Eternity), inXile Entertainment (Torment: Tides of Numenera), or Larian Studios (Baldur’s Gate III). They seem to be about the right size, and also due for new fantasy-themed reveal.
Like Larian Studios, Brandon Sanderson has experience working with Dungeons & Dragons parent company Wizards of the Coast, so a new D&D related IP is also a possibility.
