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I’ve always had a soft spot for Bond villain simulator Evil Genius, a spiritual successor to the Dungeon Keeper series that amped-up the cackling charm and packed-in more spy cliches than you could shake a vodka martini at.
The original game released in 2004 before a Facebook spin-off, then the mobile title Evil Genius: Online, before a surprise sequel, Evil Genius 2: World Domination, appeared in 2021: Our review reckoned that when it’s “on form, it’s one of the best management games out there.”
PC Gamer’s Josh Wolens recently had the chance to sit down with Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley to talk about and go hands-on with the studio’s newest title, Atomfall. But like the diabolical villain he is, Wolens managed to sneak-in a very important question: Can you announce Evil Genius 3 please?
“I won’t be announcing it,” laughs Kingsley, “but yeah, Evil Genius is one of those brands, one of those things that I have a soft spot for. What’s absolutely hilarious is that Demis Hassabis, it was his original game, and he’s a Nobel Prize winner now in AI.
“Demis if you’re ever watching this: Hello, thank you, and good luck with all the things you’re doing. It’s just quite funny that he’s come out from games into AI and he’s an incredibly powerful and knowledgeable expert in that area.”
To briefly clarify, Evil Genius was the second (and final) game developed by Elixir Studios, which was founded by Hassabis after his departure from Lionhead. The studio closed in 2005, and Rebellion acquired its intellectual property (including a cancelled version of Evil Genius 2) in 2006.
“The idea of simulation games with emergent properties is very much part of what we do,” says Kingsley. “We’ve got quite a lot, a big back catalogue, like the Lord of the Realms and Lord of Magic IP. For me, with my Modern History TV YouTube channel all about medieval things and horses, I’m particularly keen one day on doing something medieval-y, even if it’s medieval fantasy. I’d love to do that. So that’s on the shortlist of things to explore, genres to explore.”
Jason Kingsley wants to do a medieval game? The surprising thing is it hasn’t already happened. His YouTube channel is excellent, by the way, if you’re into the period and also want to see a man smashing lances into mannequin skulls.
“But I love my sci-fi,” Kingsley continues. “I love my hardcore sci-fi as well, so Evil Genius is definitely there. But what else could we do with it other than a base-building game, I guess is the question. And what other genres could one imagine from that?
“There’s nothing actually in progress at the moment other than ideas. That sounds like there’s nothing happening, but that’s not true, because ideas are percolating all the time. Whilst we’re releasing Atomfall now, we’re also working on lots of games that will come out over the next few years, and we’re also coming up with ideas for what to start in the next couple of years for games that will come out in more years time, you know? So it’s this rolling, rolling kind of business of keeping new games coming along.”
So you kind-of maybe heard it here first: Kingsley isn’t announcing Evil Genius 3, but there are definitely some ideas “percolating” over at Rebellion about what could be done with the series. The most surprising aspect of Kingsley’s answer to me is about the genre: I find it hard to imagine an Evil Genius that is not a base-building game to some degree, though I suppose the world domination theme lends itself more broadly to the strategy and tactics genre.
Who knows: Maybe they’ll come up with an asymmetric shooter (please don’t). Evil Genius fans clearly shouldn’t expect anything anytime soon, but going by the man in charge, it’s not unreasonable to expect something down the line.
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Kurt Indovina
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