3 days Ago By Leah J. Williams
Remedy Entertainment’s Sam Lake has shared a desire to work on a video game in future, in an interview with discussing his career to date. In a rapid-fire round of questions, Lake was asked which other media franchise he’d love to work on, with his spur-of-the-moment response flagging as a key point of interest. As the interviewer Christopher Dring noted, it’s a very Finnish answer.
For those unfamiliar, is a media franchise developed by Finnish author, Tove Jansson. Comprising multiple novels, comic strips, TV shows, and yes, some video games, it follows a group of white hippopotamus-like troll creatures who live in a fantasy glade. Their stories, usually targeted at children, are about friendship and belonging, and tackling challenges with goodness and love.
While the Moomins aren’t known worldwide, they are incredibly popular in many regions, and they even serve as mascots in Japan. The franchise is widely regarded as one of the biggest cultural exports from Finland, and since the 1990s, the profile of the series has grown significantly. It’s clear Lake has a fondness for the , which is lovely to think about, given his contributions to the horror genre, and the twisting thriller narratives produced by Remedy Entertainment.
While his answer to Dring’s questions shouldn’t be seen as confirmation he’ll work on a game in future, it’s a novel reveal of Lake’s multi-faceted interests, anyway. What’s next for Sam Lake? Elsewhere in the interview, Lake discussed a range of developments at Remedy Entertainment, and how far he’s come as a game developer. As revealed, Lake initially planned to be an author, and he’s always wanted to write a novel.
Working at Remedy became a sort of side quest, a “30-year detour to that dream.” “I’m hoping that I will get a chance once I finally retire from making games to still do creative work, and have smaller, more personal projects. But not yet,” Lake said.
Over the last 30 years, his dream of releasing creative works has morphed significantly, but it’s clear he remains excited about the studio’s future, and what’s next. In the months ahead, it sounds like Lake will be working on array of projects, including guiding Annapurna in its upcoming adaptation. “I am personally really excited about the possibilities with Annapurna on TV and film,” Lake said of this project.
“We’ve been trying to get something started [in that space] on and off for years and years, and we are in the very early stages now. I am aware it’s a complex process and you never know, but I have to say that [Annapurna] is a wonderful partner. I am cautiously optimistic about our exciting discussions there.
I hope to be able to be involved in that process as it goes forward.” At this stage, Lake’s role in this project isn’t confirmed, but it’s clear there’s plenty of faith in the adaptation, in these early stages. In addition to this project, Remedy Entertainment is also on the cusp of releasing multiplayer shooter – so it might be that Lake’s plans to release a novel are still some time away.
Likewise, we shouldn’t expect any chatter of a game in the near future..
