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Cyan Worlds announces PlayStation VR version of latest title, ‘Obduction’

A scene from “Obduction,” a puzzle adventure game developed by Mead-based company Cyan Worlds. The independent developer announced Tuesday the game would be available Aug. 29 for the Playstation 4 at a cost of $29.99. (Cyan Worlds)
By Kip Hill kiph@spokesman.com(509) 459-5429

PlayStation gamers will have their first opportunity in more than two decades next month to play an original title from Mead-based developer Cyan Worlds in their living rooms.

The small, independent studio best known for producing the megahit “Myst” in the early 1990s announced Tuesday its latest title, “Obduction,” will be available for sale digitally for the PlayStation 4 beginning Aug. 29 for $29.99. The game will be playable using the home console’s virtual reality add-on – following the upgrade of “Obduction”’s upgrade to VR on PC last year – as well as in its traditional, two-dimensional format.

“We did the old games for PlayStation – like Myst and Riven were PlayStation – but those weren’t realtime 3D,” said Rand Miller, co-founder of Cyan Worlds. “It’s nice getting back to one that is right in that sweet spot for a console.”

“Obduction” follows the gameplay of those original titles, which took the PC world by storm in the mid-1990s with puzzling gameplay and photorealistic graphics, a novelty at the time. Players solve environmental puzzles from a first-person perspective to unlock the secrets of the surrounding, surreal alien world.

Miller said gamers will be able to switch between playing the game on their headsets and gamepads using the traditional TV display.

The game will be playable on PlayStation with both the traditional gamepad and PlayStation Move camera controls, Miller said. It’s the same title released for the PC in August, but Miller was coy about whether there would be additional content for the game down the line for hungry PlayStation 4 players.

“No, I can’t say anything about that right now,” Miller said about the potential for downloadable content. “Catch up with me in a little bit. Things are still in progress.”

Earlier this year, Sony executives announced the PlayStation VR had sold more than 1 million units, an impressive figure compared to other headsets from Oculus and HTC. However, the sets – which cost $399 on their own and $499 bundled with a Move camera, controllers and software – have sold at a clip of about 1 for every 60 PlayStation 4 consoles sold, according to industry figures.

“Let’s just put it this way: We’re riding the VR wave to a certain extent, and the PSVR is a big wave,” Miller said.

“Obduction” is the first Cyan Worlds game to appear on a home console since 2007’s “Cosmic Osmo’s Hex Isle,” which appeared on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 through the Xbox Live Arcade indie marketplace. The last game to appear on a Sony console was 1997’s “Riven,” a sequel to “Myst.” The “Obduction” release will not include a boxed retail version, Miller said.