Artem Novikov

Swedish artist offended by the creators of Just Cause because of the style of the new game

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Swedish artist Simon Stålenhag is dissatisfied with his compatriots from Avalanche Studios. This summer, the studio announced the game Generation Zero, the setting of which is very similar to the plots of Stalenhag’s works. The artist claims that he knew nothing about the project. Simon has no legal claims, but he is annoyed that his style was borrowed without asking.

What happened

In early June, Avalanche unveiled the debut trailer for Generation Zero. The creators describe the game as a “guerrilla sci-fi action movie” in the Swedish outback of the alternative 80s. The trailer showed a group of heroes fighting robots against the backdrop of rural landscapes.

Many viewers noticed the similarity between the details of the game world and the paintings of Simon Stalenhag.

Generation Zero screenshots on top, illustrations by Simon Stalenhag on the bottom

Stalenhag expressed his feelings about the situation in a series of tweets. According to the artist, he does not forbid Avalanche or anyone else to create settings with robots in the entourage of the Swedish province of the 80s. But he is annoyed that the Avalanche staff did not consider it necessary to discuss with him a project so similar to his ideas.

“The only thing that upsets me is that Avalanche knows who I am. We live in the same city, and the head of development of Generation Zero is subscribed to my Twitter. I even helped Avalanche a little with one project. But no one told me that the studio was preparing a game about Sweden in the late 80s with giant robots. They could at least recognize the similarity. Or choose a different style, not like my work,” Simon wrote.

The artist hopes that the developers of Generation Zero will publicly explain why their new game resembles the worlds he created. Stalenhag admits that he himself is often inspired by video games and movies. For example, the colors and composition for one of the landscapes helped him choose the graphic style of Doom.

Avalanche Studios Reaction

The creators of Generation Zero were puzzled by the artist’s claims. Project manager Emil Kraftling confirmed to Eurogamer that Avalanche is familiar with Stalenhag. But other ideas formed the basis of the Generation Zero style.

Kraftling believes that the game echoes Simon’s paintings with an unsettling atmosphere. According to Emil, his childhood with Stalenhag fell at the end of the Cold War and was spent in the Swedish province. The impressions of youth laid the foundation for the work of both authors.

Now the dispute between the studio and the artist has reached an impasse. Emil Kraftling emphasizes that “Avalanche will be happy to continue the dialogue with Stolenhag’s agency or with him personally.” But that’s not what Simon needs.

“Avalanche doesn’t need to convince me that I’m not related to Generation Zero. I know that myself. Let them better explain the situation to my and their fans, who inundated me with questions about the game after the trailer was released,” Eurogamer quotes the artist as saying.

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Source: Eurogamer

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