''The Lost Legends of Redwall'' (originally titled ''Redwall: The Adventure Game'', ''Redwall: The Warrior Reborn'', and ''Epic Tales of Redwall'' during development) is a series of six episodic
indie
Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Gaming
*Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies
*Indie game, any game (board ...
adventure game
An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...
s for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
, and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
developed and published by studio
Soma Games
Soma Games is an American video game developer based in Newberg, Oregon. Founded in 2005 by Chris Skaggs, Rande Bruhn, and John Bergquist, Soma originally produced mobile games such as ''G'' and ''Windup Robots'', and beginning in 2018, licensed ...
. They are the first officially licensed video games to be based on the ''
Redwall
''Redwall'' is a series of children's fantasy novels by British writer Brian Jacques, published from 1986 to 2011. It is also the title of the first book of the series, published in 1986, as well as the name of the abbey featured in the book, ...
'' book series since its introduction in 1986, and began production following a successful
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign for the ''
Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...
'' map "AbbeyCraft" in 2013.
Originally titled ''Redwall: The Adventure Game'' and later ''Redwall: The Warrior Reborn'' for much of its development, the series' working title was changed to ''Epic Tales of Redwall'' before arriving at its final branding. The games tell a new story within the ''Redwall'' universe set before and during the
first book
First Book is a national, nonprofit social enterprise focusing on educational equity as a path out of poverty. The organization addresses barriers to education faced by children in low-income and historically excluded communities by providing brand ...
, and features characters and settings from the novel. The initial episode, "The Scout", was made available on
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
Early Access beginning December 18, 2017, with a full release on September 14, 2018. A
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
release came in mid-2019 and subsequent episodes for all intended platforms are planned for distribution in the near future.
Development
In 2012, the writing team of brothers Christopher and Alan Miller had acquired the licensing rights to the ''
Redwall
''Redwall'' is a series of children's fantasy novels by British writer Brian Jacques, published from 1986 to 2011. It is also the title of the first book of the series, published in 1986, as well as the name of the abbey featured in the book, ...
'' book series from the Redwall Abbey Company with the intent of making a feature film. That same year, Christopher launched a website and
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page for a video game concept he announced he was working on with the assistance of series illustrator
Sean Rubin
Sean Rubin is an American illustrator and author of children's books.
Rubin is known for writing and illustrating the children's book ''Bolivar''. He also illustrated some of the ''Redwall'' and ''Mouse Guard'' books. Originally titled ''Redwall: The Adventure Game'', the title was intended to be released for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
,
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
s, and tablets in Fall 2012. After talks with Miller throughout that year, independent developer Soma Games optioned the video game rights for the franchise in 2013 and the took over primary development of the title, now called ''Redwall: The Warrior Reborn''. Soma Games launched a
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
campaign which ran from April to May of that year to allocate funds for a ''Redwall''-themed ''
Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made public in May 2009 before being ...
'' map called "AbbeyCraft", with all additional funds over the target going toward the adventure game itself. As Soma Games CTO Chris Skaggs remarked, "Developing a ''Minecraft'' map and server as the first step of the adventure game allows us to create ways for ''Redwall'' fans and the ''Minecraft'' community to actively participate and evolve the game in a meaningful and authentic way." The campaign successfully raised $17,618 of the developers' $11,000 goal, reaching the first stretch goal for adding the location of St. Ninian's Church to AbbeyCraft, which was later released on Soma Games' website on August 9, 2013.
Although the game was intended for release in Summer 2014, financial difficulties and "tons of paperwork" meant development proper could not begin until Soma Games secured additional funding. In September 2014, the company's website issued a pitch for interested partners to support the project, and in February 2015 announced that the non-profit organization The McClellan Group had joined them as a backer. Throughout 2015, the company took part in a Praxis Labs business accelerator where they completed all art and pre-production steps on the title and began a "grassroots" marketing campaign. Soma Games announced in July 2017 that the first episode of ''The Warrior Reborn'' had been greenlit for
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
Early Access, with the game's preliminary market page added to the site. The Early Access version was originally going to be available on September 29, 2017, but was pushed back to December 18 of that year under its new title, ''An Epic Tale of Redwall''. The title was changed once more in March 2017 to ''The Lost Legends of Redwall'' following concerns by
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
and The Redwall Abbey Company that the previous one was too close to the branding "A Tale of Redwall" seen on some ''Redwall'' novels. On September 14, 2018, the first episode, "The Scout", was officially released on Steam for Windows and macOS.
Soma Games initially stated that they wanted to make ''Legends of Redwall'' a "'progressive adventure' designed for multi-platform deployment" with primary development beginning on Windows and Mac with "tablets as secondary. A console option is a maybe." The title was later released on
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...