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“I genuinely think there’s awesome potential”: Mike Bithell on his “im-slim” Vampirium: 1997 and the power of quick verbs
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.
In short
- 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
Explained simply
Mike Bithell is a video game developer who ran a studio that worked on licensed games including Tron and John Wick adaptations. His studio recently shrank after one of these licensed games failed to perform well commercially, but the downsizing has given Bithell creative independence to pursue his own projects.
Immersive sims are a genre of game designed around player freedom and choice, allowing players to tackle problems in several different ways rather than following one set path. Vampirium: 1997 takes this concept but strips away the expensive 3D graphics and detailed environments, using text, menus and maps instead—an approach Bithell calls "im-slim".
The minimalist format allows Bithell to develop and test new gameplay features much more quickly than traditional game development would require. This means he can offer players more varied ways to interact with and solve challenges in the game.
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