Cyan Worlds announces remake of classic adventure platformer Riven There’s an exciting new trailer this week. The studio is rebuilding the game, which was first released in 1997, from the ground up. A release date or release platform has yet to be announced.
The Cyan Worlds website has a short FAQ about the project; the home of all current facts and public information about the game right now. This includes revealing that the remake will be “fully traversable in 3D space” rather than clickable (like the original). However, the same FAQ states that “any other supported navigation methods will be announced at a later date”, so there may be hope for fans of the more…classic approach.
Cyan has remade Myst (Riven’s predecessor) in 2021, a acclaimed reimagining of the original. The response was positive enough, and the financial rewards were worth it enough to warrant the rest of the series was just as loving.
Fans of the series probably know the Starry Expanse project. It’s a fan-project effort that began more than a decade ago in an attempt to rebuild Riven, according to the team that “helped kick off this project”. In a separate blog post dedicated to the topic, Cyan Worlds confirmed that the two parties are working together, but independently. Cyan Worlds also eased concerns about the fan project team being killed and eaten, which is always nice to know.
Right at this point in the news article, I inserted a little personal impression, but I was even alive in 1997! I wholeheartedly support the idea of a remake of a classic genre like Riven, though, and I’m glad to hear that there’s still a large enough user base of nostalgic fans or curious newcomers to justify such an undertaking. Fingers crossed it will be up to the high standard set by the original!
On the topic of remakes, why not check out our coverage of The Witcher’s full remake in Unreal Engine 5, and how eager we are for a Dead Rising remake. Come on, you have to admit it’s going to be lush.
