Sea Of Stars Creative Director On Fully "Legitimizing" The Game With Physical Releases

Summary Sea of Stars will release a special physical edition and vinyl through iam8bit.

The physical release includes a retro-style manual and world map poster, and the soundtrack has been curated for vinyl.

Sabotage Studios' president discusses game reception and future plans, including DLC.

Fans of Sea of Stars will soon have a brand-new way to commemorate their love of the game, with both physical releases of the title and a special vinyl available for purchase from iam8bit. Arguably one of the most critically-acclaimed games of 2023, the fantasy RPG is the follow-up title from Sabotage Studios after its 2018 release The Messenger. Set thousands of years before the events of its predecessor, Sea of Stars follows Solstice Warriors Valere and Zale as they strive to save the world from creatures called Dwellers.

The inspirations drawn from older titles are very clear in the new iam8bit physical release of Sea of Stars, which features inclusions like a retro-style manual and a full world map poster. The game's epic soundtrack has been curated by composers Eric W. Brown and Yasunori Mitsuda to pare it down to double-vinyl length, though a digital download of all of its tracks will be included with the purchase. This week, the regular physical edition arrives in stores and special iam8bit version will begin shipping; the vinyl is planned for release in Q3.

Related Should You Choose Valere Or Zale In Sea Of Stars Although Sea of Stars features a number of playable party members, the indie RPG offers a set of two specific choices for the party leader.

Screen Rant interviewed Thierry Boulanger, president of Sabotage Studios and Sea of Stars' creative director, to discuss the iam8bit collaboration, seeing players' responses since release, and the development team's plans for the future.

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Making A Sea Of Stars Physical Release

Recapturing That Retro Feeling

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Screen Rant: So first I am curious, because I know Sea of Stars is inspired in so many ways by classic games in that same genre, and now this physical release has sort of been able to take that inspiration and translate it into a physical form, like there's a retro-style manual in there. What has it been like translating that vintage feeling into something that fans can have?

Thierry Boulanger: Yeah, so there is something to - and especially as you mentioned - where these games, the inspirations, where they come from. There was always this sense of just even the cartridge itself, it was part of the experience, right? And the booklet would give you more backstory, more information, ideas on how to play, how to approach the game. And as everything got more digitalized, there is something that helps this throwback aspect to it, the nostalgia factor of the game, something that you want to own, something that's on the shelf that brings some kind of a vibe to your life even while you're not playing the game. And I think doing this step, it's the final step into feeling like we're legitimizing this release. It was kind of like we're ticking all the boxes of what it's trying to hearken back to.

And what was the collaboration with iam8bit like? Did you have a clear idea of what you wanted from the get-go?

Thierry Boulanger: Yeah, absolutely. And for full disclosure, we've been partners for years. With our previous game, Messenger, they did our vinyl and we've been friends ever since. And so we were in conversations for years before we announced the collaboration and everything. And it was pretty clear that they understood what we had and what we were shooting for, and they were contributing ideas along the way and everything. So it's been great because our key metric on both sides was quality, and also feeling like we're paying proper homage to our own thing, because this is really, again, the cherry on top.

And do you have a favorite part of the special edition release of the game that's included?

Thierry Boulanger: My favorite part has to be the booklet, because we were hoping - we just make the game, so we don't know about the costs or the realities of printing or putting stuff together. We kind of defer to them as far as what's feasible. And there was this hope for a booklet that would really feel like - we go through the whole design process of having the little buttons and showing gameplay through slides and inventory icons and everything for it to feel like a booklet from the old days. And that was the part that I was hoping I would be able to pitch and they would be like, "Yeah, it's probably a bit more complicated, but we can look into that." But they actually brought the idea themselves, so it was like, "Oh, great, we're all on the same page that this is the proper thing to add there." It was super fun. That's definitely my highlight, I would say.

Bringing Sea Of Stars' Soundtrack To Vinyl

Creating A Curated, Active Listening Experience

And how do you think the soundtrack being brought to vinyl will change the listening experience for fans? And how did you narrow down the tracks that you wanted to include?

Thierry Boulanger: Right, right, right. Oof. Yeah, that was a big one for sure, because the game has over 200 tracks, right? And so obviously doing the two LPs, you're kind of limited in how many tracks you need to do. The first thing was we wanted to leave one side, one of the four sides just for Mitsuda-san exclusively. We felt like this is what you might expect, getting the vinyl, you want everything on there, you want the collab to sort of be acknowledged there as well. And yeah, from there it was basically, so Eric [Brown], our main composer, had to do the hard job of picking his own children, his favorites. So we kind of went by theme - of course you need a boss battle track, of course you need a town track, you need more lively ones, more moody ones. But I think in terms of the vinyl, the main thing about it, again, in going physical is that you commit to the listening experience, right? We're in the era of hitting next or having your favorite track on repeat and just skipping to your favorite part and listening to it three times in a row. You don't really do that with a vinyl reader. So it was done with an understanding that it's more of an investment, and that with a vinyl it's likely that someone will genuinely be thinking, "Oh, this afternoon my activity is to listen to music. I'm taking the time." There's something more deliberate about it. So the track list was designed as a whole listening experience. You won't be skipping anything, and it's meant to represent the journey. And so we want players who played the game to go through sort of the same key beats as they did during the game.

And you sort of touched on this a little bit with it being a sort of more active experience to have the vinyl and that sort of thing. Just in general, why is a physical release - both in terms of the soundtrack and the special edition - important to you when our landscape is, like you said, becoming really increasingly digital all the time?

Thierry Boulanger: I think there is something to be said, if even a little bit more philosophically maybe, about just the notion of the present moment in general, it grounds you a little bit more and you are more mindful and deliberate in your action. It's not just playing on the side or it's not just one of the icons that you see when you boot your console. It's like, "This one I want to own, I want to have, I want it to occupy space not only in my mind, but also in my place in my life, I want it to be there." And I mean, obviously I'm incredibly biased, having worked on the game myself, but having it on my shelf, it gives me this little high, right? It's a reminder. I go through my everyday life and I'll see the logo and I'm like, "Ah, yeah, this is cool. We made this. This is a thing." And I like to do that. And I myself, I have a retro collection as well. I like having all the old cartridges and everything. And I just feel like there's a type of soul to it that I'm committing a bit more to pieces that stayed with me.

Player Reactions & Future Plans

Bringing Fans Together & Continuing The Sea Of Stars Story

Yeah, and I think it's really something that those who are in the fandom will really love. And I mean, the reception for Sea of Stars and its release has been incredible, rightfully so. I'm curious what you've considered maybe the most surprising or entertaining reactions from fans that you've seen since the game release?

Thierry Boulanger: Hands down, the biggest one was receiving some feedback or letter from parents who played with their children. And there's one specific one I'm thinking about. So there's this six-year-old girl, and her dad wrote in, speaking very honestly about how we all had this click moment with games when we were kids. And basically he was saying, "She had that moment through your game and we bonded over this and we now have this, gaming is now a part of our life together and our relationship and it was the gateway." Because that was very much the intention and the way that the game was designed and presented, to be very childlike and to appeal to a sense of simplicity. I just wanted to give you sort of a summer vacation with your inner child, if that makes sense. For some people, the takeaway that they got was that maybe it was too simple or something or they were looking for something thicker or more serious. And that's fine, and there's games that cater to that. But the overwhelming amount of people who saw the intention for what it was and embraced it as a deliberate shot at simplicity to distill that unique feeling that just feels light and refreshing, that was definitely the real paycheck there.

That's really sweet. And I have to ask, with how strong the general public reaction has been, can you reveal if there's any other future plans for Sea of Stars, whether it's just more collectibles or DLC?

Thierry Boulanger: Well, we're always monitoring demand and what people - as you know, and especially working with iam8bit, is we just want to make it a good version that people genuinely want to have and to own as a product because it means something to them. We're not just trying to ship plastic. So we are paying attention to what people would like to see, and we'll be there if there's overwhelming demand. And we are working on DLC, actually. We have yet to sort of show the theme, maybe we're cooking some reveal trailer soon. But yeah, DLC is absolutely coming. It's important for us, because seeing the reactions and the attachment to the characters and everything, and there's a bit more of a story to tell there. So that's what we're working on right now along with prototyping our next game, but that will probably be a couple of years before we're ready to reveal anything.

Oh, that's very exciting to learn. And I'm curious, in terms of special collector's editions like the one that you've helped make for Sea of Stars, is there a game, either from this current generation or just from your childhood that hasn't been released yet, that you'd love to have in your collection?

Thierry Boulanger: Well, from my childhood, it would be for sure Chrono Trigger. I mean, Chrono Trigger is why I chose this career path, it's how I came online as wanting to be a creative. It gave me the sense that there was a guiding hand behind what I was playing and like, "Oh, maybe I can be that guy." This game is just way too special. If it had some sort of a collector that has everything, the figurines, I want the wooden box, I would want it all. But I know that that ship has probably sailed somewhere between the last 25 years. When it comes to modern games, I'm looking at what's releasing. I'm liking the retro re-releases where they make a point to make a more comprehensive package. I'm a bit of a collector myself. I don't think I have any strong preference towards any game, just in general, it's something that I love.