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Main artist Haron Younis greeted us at the Indie Showcase at devcom to tell us all about the just-revealed psychological horror game.
"Hi friends, it's the very end of the day one of the devcom, it's very loud because the Devcom Award are happening in the background but I took the time to take a look at one of the very interesting indie games being showcased here which is called Operation Stutter and I'm here joined by Haron So, this looks good, both graphically but also the background of the game is interesting So, what can you tell me is the elevator pitch for Operation Stutter?
Yes, Operation Stutter is a psychological horror game, it's basically something if you think about Outlast, Still Wakes the Deep, MADiSON It's narrative driven, heavily focused on the story, there's a lot of puzzles and one of the core mechanics of the game is you have a film camera but use it as a flashlight which allows you to see things that your naked eyes cannot So, it's like mixing those games you mentioned with Fatal Frame or something like that What will make it stand out from the many, you know, this genre got more and more competitive as of late So, which would you say is the special thing? Perhaps that background?
Yes, so we are, we come from a very interesting place, we come from Kurdistan which is in the Middle East We don't have an existing industry, so we are the only indie studios from there So, this is our debut project and it will be officially revealed with IGN in this week, the Gamescom week and it's a milestone for us because we are probably the only company that has been here and already we are getting interest from our target publishers which is also very interesting It tells us that we are doing something right We do believe that the game itself has a lot of unique elements because aside from what you just mentioned you know, we have, we utilize something really interesting in the game which is to confuse the player with this orientation Basically, when you're not looking, environments shift, things change around you and this is basically to try and create a sense of dread and confusion and people are not sure like Am I hallucinating? Did I see this right? Have things changed while I'm not looking or I'm just not remembering well?
So, yeah, we believe it's a good, I mean, unique game that can stand on its own That's a staple from Silent Hill as well to make you, you know, like confused in that way So, what's going on here? You start the game, what's happening?
Yeah, so basically this is gonna be the official reveal of the game This is the first time where we are publicly showing it And, yeah, we have a playtest ready and we are going, definitely going to be talking more about it We will be working with influencers to play the game and we are thinking of an early access next year So, in the first quarter of next year Right now it's available for wishlisting on Steam But we are also aiming at Steam Next Fest of February So, yeah, there is a lot of exciting things upcoming We are thinking of GDC, maybe Gamescom Latam in Brazil So, yeah, we are just promoting the game, showing it to people But I meant more, I understood and I appreciate your answer, but I meant more in the game What's going on?
So, you start, as long as you can tell me, okay?
You start, what's the deal here?
Yes, the best, I'm gonna try my best not to spoil the game But basically, you wake up in this almost surreal secret nuclear facility in the United States You don't know why you're here, you don't know who you are And you don't know what is your connection with a secret operation, Operation Stutter So, basically, you're trying to find a way out But at the same time you're discovering more and more through puzzles, notes, recordings You're learning more about this infamous or secret operation that you are part of But you don't know exactly how And basically the purpose of the game is for our main character to find out who he is And also how to get out of this place And is there a link to you as a studio and to your country in all of this?
Not directly, so, of course, there is a lot of us as individuals inside the game Because we come from a background of, you know, really, we grew up with games similar to this We love cinema, we're cinephiles So this is something that you can definitely reflect in the game But as our first game, we wanted to go with a story that is a lot more global Our next game that we are already in the early pre-production We have some scripts written It's a more Kurdish story, takes place in Kurdistan And it's also a horror game because our heritage has a lot of false stories that are very creepy Very, very scary So we want to bring that to a global audience But we want to start with something that people are already more familiar with Okay, we cannot talk about feedback because this hasn't been unveiled as of yet But what are your expectations?
Where do you set your expectations as of now?
Is this key for you to find a publisher?
Do you rather, if you don't find a publisher or the response you're expecting Would you rather go on your own and auto-publish?
What can you share about that?
Yeah, we definitely have a few routes, a few plans ahead of us The first one is, we always thought, okay, we are going to self-publish the game For example, on Steam But at the same time, we are also definitely looking for publishers So we've already been in talks with some of our target publishers Which is great, they reached out to us And we said, okay, so it means that the game is already hitting the target It's drawing the right people And we are very confident that we will find a good publisher That we can, of course, collaborate based on our shared vision Because we want a publisher that understands this genre That has worked with psychological horror games Because we believe it will maximize the outreach and the potential of the game But let's say if we don't find a publisher Then we also have our own plan of self-publishing it on Steam and other platforms Perhaps VR as well, as it's first person Yeah, when we started the game We thought, okay, this is a perfect title for VR It's psychological horror So nothing is more creepy than to be immersed in this world fully Like in a VR setting So VR is definitely coming at some point for Operation Stutter Alright, good luck with the reveal By this time when you are seeing this, it means that the trailer went live So looking forward to learning more about this And the other projects you guys have Thank you so much for your time Enjoy the show Thank you very much, I appreciate it, man Thank you"
