With Game of Thrones finally coming to an end yesterday, and the odds of the A Song of Ice and Fire books actually being finished looking increasingly bleak, thoughts inevitably turn to what author George R.R. Martin could be doing next. Apart from sitting on his solid-gold throne, of course.
Well, Martin has confirmed on his official website that he’s recently been busy “consulting on a video game out of Japan”; the first confirmation of sorts that he is indeed working on something video game related, as per the rumours.
This all ties in very nicely with a rumour from earlier this year that George R.R. Martin was collaborating with Dark Souls and Sekiro developer From Software. At the time, it seemed a ludicrous proposition. Now, not so much.
OK, so we now know Martin’s working on a game, and we can also predict with a degree of confidence that FromSoftware will be involved. The legendary Japanese studio has multiple confirmed games in development following the launch of Sekiro, none of which have been revealed yet. But how deep does the rumour rabbit hole go?
Well, further details come from Liam Robertson, a writer who has a decent record in terms of scoops, as well as a separate leak on 4chan. According to this pair of rumours, FromSoft’s new game is currently codenamed Project Rune, with the final name potentially being ‘Great Rune’. It’s Norse-themed, so stepping into a competitive arena alongside God of War and Assassin’s Creed Kingdoms. The game is considered to be a spiritual successor to Dark Souls, with three unique characters to pick from – Hunter, Warrior, and Wizard. Each character will offer a unique playthrough, visiting different locations and fighting unique enemies such as Draugr, Frost Giants, and Nekkens.
If George R.R. Martin is involved with Great Rune then we’d expect the story to be much overt than a typical Souls game. You have to really work hard to uncover the narrative behind a Souls game but Great Rune sounds as if it will be a much more transparent, politically-driven tale of a kingdom locked in a 100-year civil war.
And, last but not least, it would appear we won’t have to wait long to see if there’s any substance to this rumour. Sources claim a reveal is set to take place during E3 in June.
