I still remember when I spotted Walkabout and Atomic Wolf’s action-adventure/visual novel gameLiberated” for the very first time, because I got really impressed by the game’s very first trailer as it contained a lot of the things that I enjoy in an action/adventure video game (such as it’s cyberpunk/authoritarianism theme and neo-noir graphic visuals).

Anyways, I think you get the idea. So if we fast forward to the now and current year. I’ve kept my eyes on “Liberated” for quite some time now. That’s also the main reason why I decided to reach out to Walkabout about doing an interview with us.

Well, I’ve got some good news to share with you all =) Because Walkabout accepted our interview request!

So just recently I got a chance to sit down with Piotr Gnyp (head of BizDev at Walkabout Games) from Walkabout, and we ended up talking about everything from how “Liberated” came to be, cyberpunk pop culture to Walkabout’s plans for the future.

So with that said, please enjoy our Liberated Interview with Walkabout!

liberated walkabout games

“Liberated ” is with no doubt the most famous and successful title that Walkabout has had any involvement in so far.

Robin TGG
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with us, and with that said, please go ahead and introduce yourself to our readers.

Piotr – Walkabout
My name is Piotr Gnyp, I’m the head of BizDev at Walkabout Games. We are the publisher of Liberated.

liberated here comes the pain

“Liberated” is an action-adventure/visual novel game that takes place in a dystopian cyberpunk/1984-like world where the common man and woman have no power nor any say about anything anymore. Simply put, “Liberated” is a story about authoritarianism on steroids.

Robin TGG
Perhaps you could give our readers a short introduction of what your latest game “Liberated” is all about? And why gamers should be excited about its upcoming release.

Piotr – Walkabout
Liberated
is an action-adventure game about a revolution in a cyberpunk world. Where everyone’s under constant surveillance and worth only as much as their Citizen Credit System sc Some people won’t stand for it – and you get a chance to join them.

Our game takes place on the pages of a digital comic book, hand-drawn in a unique tech-noir style. I think it is a one-of-the-kind game that touches upon important issues that we are facing right now.

liberated the mob rules

Not only does “Liberated” have a very interesting and thrilling story to tell, but the actual story behind how the game came to be is just as exciting as the game itself.

Robin TGG
Do you remember how everything got started with the “Liberated” project? At what stage in the development of “Liberated” did you decide that you should go for a mix of comic, adventure, shooter and cyberpunk elements? And why? 

Piotr – Walkabout
It started with the story we wanted to tell, which is a story of contrasts: free will vs. obedience, convenience vs. ambition, security vs. freedom. We knew it would work best as a noir tale. Since we love comics and seeing as not many games have truly embraced the medium, we designed the Playable Graphic Novel framework.

And we did it to the fullest, so you can almost smell the paper. While other cyberpunk games are full of colorful neons, we chose the classic black-and-white aesthetics. Because, just like in a noir crime drama, we avoid a clear distinction between good and evil. We touch upon important subjects from multiple perspectives and leave the interpretation to the player.

liberated a nice visual novel-like frame

Atomic Wof and Walkabout have had quite a few sources of inspiration while creating “Liberated”. For example, “Blade Runner”, “Ghost in the Shell”, “Mr. Robot”, “1984” and the brand-new TV-show “Upload”. And scary enough, even the real world and recent events have left its marks on “Liberated”.

Robin TGG
Just out of pure curiosity, what were your sources of inspiration while creating “Liberated”?

Piotr – Walkabout
We take inspiration mainly from our contemporary world. It’s 2020, we live in cyberpunk! So if you read the newspaper headlines, they look like short descriptions from sci-fi novels from the 80’s or the 90’s. “Malware locking hotel guests out of their rooms for ransom”, “Bitcoin influencing world economy”, “Hackers meddling with elections”, “Cyberwarfare spreading out through the world and hitting the biggest logistic company”. These are real, today!

Of course, we all read Gibson, Stephenson, Dukaj, or Morgan. We watched Blade Runner, Johnny Mnemonic, Matrix or Ghost in the Shell. We loved Mr. Robot and the new TV Show – Upload.

Taking from all of this, we’ve created our fictional city in which we combined all of the above. In that way, we can tell a universal story without pointing fingers.

liberated the nintendo switch edition

Walkabout and Atomic Wolf has collected quite a lot of feedback from the fans and “Liberated” players since the game launched in June of this year (2020). So the idea is for Walkabout and Atomic Wolf to use that feedback to improve “Liberated” even further on all platforms in the near future.

Robin TGG
I have to say that things seem to have gone rather well for “Liberated” since it launched on the Nintendo Switch just recently (June 2nd, 2020). So, with that said, did “Liberated” end up becoming the game that you wanted to create from the very start? (expectations and goals Vs the end result)

Piotr – Walkabout
You can improve your game almost indefinitely. There is always something that could have been done better.

So, yes, are constantly improving Liberated. Now, after the release, we have been collecting feedback straight from our players, and that is the best measure to show what needs to be worked on. We are very happy that the main idea for the game has had such a warm reception and that our gamers liked it.

We are preparing a patch to address other issues to be released very soon.

Robin TGG
Are there any plans for releasing “Liberated” to the PS5, new Xbox console and mobiles?

Piotr – Walkabout
We have just announced that we will launch the game for the PC in July 2020 with full English voice-over. Stay tuned for more information about Liberated.

liberated the world of liberated

I don’t know about you, but I really like the visual novel/comic-like look and feel to “Liberated”. As it really feels as if I’m inside of a comic while playing the game (remember the old video game “Comix zone”? That’s what I mean).

Robin TGG
At this point in time, how likely do you think it is that we would get to see a “Liberated” part 2 in the future?

Piotr – Walkabout
Right now we are focusing on the PC release. We’ve announced the voice-over, but that’s not all that we have prepared for you.

Robin TGG
Did you at any point in time think that “Liberated” would become as successful and praised as it is today while developing the game? I mean, “Liberated” has won a lot of game awards and received a lot of positive reviews all over the world.

Piotr – Walkabout
We are very happy and thankful for all the awards. We took a bet with the playable graphic novel format and it seems to have paid off. And, to be honest, we have never expected to gain so much coverage and interest in our indie game.

liberated the people vs the big brother system

“Liberated” may be fiction, but Walkabout had no idea (whatsoever) that reality would become far creepier than the game itself when they started to work on “Liberated” many years ago.

Robin TGG
Don’t you find it to be rather creepy and scary that “Liberated” is now closer to reality than fiction considering the current state of our world? I mean, a lot of nations are now almost a full-blown 1984 police state (just look at Hong Kong and France).

Piotr – Walkabout
When we were thinking about Liberated we wanted to tell a universal, futuristic story. We didn’t know that the reality would catch up with us so quickly. We once joked with ourselves that we need to speed up the production if we still want to be perceived as a cyberpunk dystopia and not some game about the former golden times of freedom.

liberated the art style

Based on looks, sounds and feel, “Liberated” is pretty much what happens if you mix “Blade Runner”, “Beneath a steel sky” and “Max Payne” with George Orwell’s “1984” book/movie.

Robin TGG
What could you tell us about the art style, soundtrack and cyberpunk theme of the game? Because I feel like all of it blends out truly well together (“Blade Runner” and “Beneath a steel sky” are two other great cyberpunk games that managed to pull that off truly well).

Piotr – Walkabout
As I wrote before, the noir art style came directly from the story and the way it is being told. The music was done by Robert Purzycki, and you correctly pointed out the main inspirations for the soundtrack.

We worked really hard to give you not only the feeling of reading and being part of a comic book story, but also we wanted to draw you into the dark dystopian cyberpunk setting with every audiovisual help at our disposal.

Robin TGG
I’ve been told that “Liberated” is coming to PC in Q2 this year, is that really correct?

Piotr – Walkabout
Yes, Liberated will be out on PC in July 2020.

liberated out of luck

Walkabout Games got a lot of plans for the future. For example, the PC version of “Liberated” and the brand-new game title “Werewolf: the Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest”.

Robin TGG
Now, as for my last and closing question to you; What are your plans, hopes and expectations for the last of the year? And is there anything else that you would like to tell our readers?

Piotr – Walkabout
We, Walkabout Games, recently made two announcements: the PC version of Liberated and announced a new title: Werewolf: the Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest, which is being developed by Different Tales studio.

I hope that you’ve seen the teaser, if not – go to http://differenttales.com/werewolf and tell us what you think. The full game reveal should also come in July.

tgg author avatar robin ek
Robin “V-Act” Ek
Editor in chief
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround

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