“Science Fiction Fans Are Looking for Originality in Video Games”: Exclusive Interview with Rogue One Screenwriter Gary Whitta.

former journalist and video game reviewer; designer at Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Activision, Midway Games; Responsible for the narrative development of the video game adaptation of the television series The Walking Dead; author of comics and novels; the editor; The screenwriter of post-apocalyptic sci-fi films The Book of Eli, Earth After Earth, and most notably the fantasy spin-off of the Star Wars saga, Rogue One, which will bring in $1.05 billion for Disney/Lucasfilm… Gary Whitta, 51, is A true jack of all trades. And it seems he already had a thousand lives.

We had a chance to chat to look back on his amazing journey, discuss his passion for video games, or the real-world possibilities for certain video game franchises to surpass or even debunk the supremacy of the Marvel or Star Wars licenses where we are right now. We’ve been talking about tired superheroes and the overproduction of the universe created by George Lucas for a while now.

Many movie fans know you from your work as a screenwriter on The Book of Elijah, After Earth, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Very few people know that you started your career as a video game journalist. Can you talk about that, talk about your personal connection?

Gary Whitta : As a child, my main passions were movies and video games, and I always dreamed of pursuing one of these interests professionally. At first I liked the idea of ​​making games, but I quickly realized that I had no technical skills.

So I decided to write about games because writing was good. So I got my first job reviewing Commodore 64 and Amiga games for a magazine, then became editor-in-chief of PC Gamer. Although I haven’t worked full-time in the video game industry for over 20 years, I’m still a video game enthusiast with a special interest in storytelling in games.

How and when did you go directly from journalism to working for companies like Microsoft, working on games like Gears of War? Was it an obvious or natural transition for you?

When I decided to switch from games journalism to screenwriting, writing for games seemed like a really natural path and the timing was right because it was a time when video game developers were finally taking storytelling seriously and looking outside. If the writers were to collaborate.

As for Microsoft buying publisher Bethesda, have you played Starfield?

I really enjoyed playing Starfield, and I think it’s a good example of how storytelling in games can be more ambitious than in more linear media like film and television. Over time, hundreds of hours in fact, and no two stories are the same.

Screenwriters like you, who can easily move between industries, from movies to video games, are not that common. There are not many examples. Alex Garland is one of them, or Hallie Wegreen Gross, for example, who has a strong background in television writing and collaborated with Neil Druckman on The Last of Us Part II. What do you think about it?

I think it’s a very natural overlap, especially since the new generation of screenwriters and filmmakers are much more comfortable with video games because they’re more a part of mainstream culture today than they were in the past. And video games now focus much more on story and cinematic experiences than in the past, so creative skills are becoming more and more common among them.

Speaking of the script, you worked on Rogue One, which is considered one of the most fantastic spin-offs in the Star Wars saga, if not the best. What lessons from your previous jobs in the video game industry have been useful for this project? Can you tell us how you got the opportunity to work at Lucasfilm?

I don’t think my background in video games helped me to work on Star Wars, but my life as a Star Wars fan definitely helped. I think being able to speak passionately and from the heart about my love for this world helped me get the job, but I was somewhat lucky because my pitch on Rogue One coincided with some of the key creative people at Lucasfilm. He already had in mind the direction of the project.

Star Wars and Marvel are huge franchises that seem unstoppable; is deeply rooted in pop culture. On the other hand, video games are full of incredible worlds, very deep narratives, powerful stories and sometimes breathtaking visual approaches. Do you think video games have become the main vehicle for bringing original sci-fi stories to a wider audience, surpassing existing films, television or franchises?

As Hollywood becomes more committed to using existing sci-fi franchises, sometimes to the point of creative exhaustion and audience fatigue, I think video games are increasingly a destination for those looking for more original sci-fi stories with innovative ideas. It involves a greater degree of creative risk and experimentation.

Games like Citizen sleeping, Disco Elysium and Ebbing These are all great examples of world-building and bold, original sci-fi storytelling that would be very difficult to achieve in the Hollywood system due to its aversion to risk and lack of willingness to try new things.

I met him about ten years ago Neill BlomkampWho told me this? “More and more young people are immersed in video games. Movies will evolve like books. Before, almost all children read books. And it gradually turned into ‘every child watches TV and movies.’ There are still children who read books, but maybe not as much.” A lot. Cinema may disappear to the same extent and be replaced by video games. The question is: How will the visual and narrative style of movies be found in games?” What do you think ?

In some ways, many visual storytelling techniques and cinematic languages ​​are already very prominent in video games, and I think this will only increase as game developers better understand the techniques that can be successfully transferred from one medium to another.

The trick is to develop this understanding of what works and what doesn’t and why. Audiences don’t want “interactive movies”—we tried that in the 90s and it didn’t work—they want video games with rich, immersive stories.

Last question: What are you playing at the moment? What is your favorite video game?

My most played games in 2023 were Diabo IV, Spider-Man 2, Party Animals, Vampire Survivors, and Balder’s Gate III. I don’t have a favorite game of all time because it’s too hard to pick just one!