Syberia: The World Before interview: Continuing a legacy

We spoke with the Game Director behind Syberia: The World Before to discuss the game's development.

January 6, 2023 8:45 AM

Syberia: The World Before is the fourth and latest installment in the Syberia series. Released back in 2022, it combines puzzle and adventure elements to deliver a narrative-focused story about identity. Syberia: The World Before was developed by Microids, and we spoke with a key developer at the studio to learn more about the process of bringing the latest entry in the franchise to life.

Shacknews head of video Greg Burke spoke with Lucas Lagravette, Game Director and Lead Writer on Syberia: The World Before. During the chat, Lagravette talks about how writing for games is quite different than other mediums, revealing that he was originally trained as a screenwriter. “I was trained to be a screenwriter, that was my field of study,” he shared. “What’s important with the Syberia series is that it was created by someone else.” He talks about collaborating with series creator Benoît Sokal on the story for The World Before.

With Syberia being a story-rich series, we were curious about how the team interweaves the story with gameplay, specifically, which influences which. Lagravette, who served as both Lead Writer and Game Director, said that the process was actually quite organic. “I have this core story, and then my team of gameplay designers, we have a vision for gameplay mechanics that [allow us] to tell that story.

During the chat, Lagravette also talks about living up to the previous games in the Syberia series while also forging a unique path forward. If you’re looking for more insightful discussions with game developers, be sure to subscribe to the Shacknews and GamerHubTV YouTube channels.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

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