To start a time-loop story is to become stuck inside one yourself.
For the past seven years, that’s been the life of indie video game developer Luis Antonio.
The way Antonio sees it, “most games are time loops.”
Rich Fury/Getty Images; Mike Marsland/WireImage; Neilson Barnard/Getty Images
“It’s constant repetition,” he tells EW.
“I just dug slowly into, ‘What does that mean?'”
Not even Ridley knows quite what the ending holds.
“It’s pretty dark,” she adds.
“It goes from being this very joyous, immediate thing to this pretty dark warren of various options.
“It straddles a line between game and film and almost novel, as well,” McAvoy muses.
“It feels like you’re reading what’s happening at times, even though you’re not.
One thing Antonio clarifies off the bat is this game isn’t meant to be a part ofThe Shininguniverse.
“Creativity becomes much more of a group thing.”
“And that’s when I thought maybe there’s an opportunity to explore [Twelve Minutes].”
His spare time was spent working up a prototype to see how people would react to the concept.
Antonio never thought he’d actually be able to turn it into a full-fledged game.
“I always assumed that I would need to be in a big studio,” he says.
“I never thought maybe I could do it myself and grow it organically as it expands.”
Technology progressed so much that everything he needed could be accessed from his home.
“Twenty years ago, I would need someone to write a game engine,” he says.
“Now, it’s more accessible.”
The entire game was developed remotely, well before the coronavirus pandemic prompted global lockdowns in February and March.
So when it came time to cast actors and record voice parts, there weren’t many hiccups.
“Me and Willem are playing pretty spontaneously, in a reactive way.
That adds a layer of complexity.
So the first [session], we were really feeling our way through it.
But once we got our heads around it, it flowed a lot easier.”
“There are multiple options that are present, but also the looping element,” McAvoy says.
Its past releases include acclaimed titles likeAshen,Outer Wilds,Journey, andFlorence.
Logan Marshall-Green and Alexandra Shipp also previously starred inTelling Lies, one of the label’s investigative thriller projects.
Annapurna’s involvement onTwelve Minutesfelt natural to Antonio, since he too is developing a “movie-like experience.”
It’s the only [medium] where there’s a dialogue between you and the experience.”
Antonio hopesTwelve Minuteswill be ready by the end of the year for Xbox and PC.
“I would wait and see how everyone reacts to the game,” he says.
