# “I genuinely think there’s awesome potential”: Mike Bithell on his “im-slim” Vampirium: 1997 and the power of quick verbs

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/i-genuinely-think-theres-awesome-potential-mike-bithell-on-his-im-slim-vampirium-1997-and-the-power-of-quick-verbs/
- Published: 2026-07-28T21:55:54+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-28T22:09:16+00:00
- Original publisher: Rock Paper Shotgun
- Original article: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/i-genuinely-think-theres-awesome-potential-mike-bithell-on-his-im-slim-vampirium-1997-and-the-power-of-quick-verbs
- Topics: Art, Celebrity, Culture, Entertainment

## Key points

- Mike Bithell details his stripped-back "im-slim" approach for Vampirium: 1997
- Minimalist, text-and-menu design lets him add new mechanics within days
- Follows layoffs after Tron: Identity underperformed; game is now wishlistable on Steam

## Summary

Developer Mike Bithell has explained why he's building his next project, Vampirium: 1997, as a deliberately stripped-back "immersive sim" rather than a full 3D game. Announced earlier this month, the game replaces detailed environments with text, menus and a positional map, a stark contrast to Bithell's previous licensed work such as John Wick Hex and Tron: Identity. The change follows the poor commercial performance of Tron: Identity, which forced Bithell Games to lay off most of its staff, leaving the studio smaller but creatively independent.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Bithell said this minimalist "im-slim" approach lets him add new gameplay mechanics, or "verbs", in a matter of days rather than the lengthy development time required for equivalent features in a traditional 3D game. He described the format as taking the exploratory, open-ended spirit of immersive sims and abstracting it into a tile-based structure, allowing him to "massively overinvest" in the range of player possibilities. He cited an example where a playtester's question about pushing a character led to a quickly implemented new mechanic, suggesting the streamlined production process is working, though he remains unsure whether players will respond to the finished game. Vampirium: 1997 can currently be wishlisted on Steam.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.