Failbetter's next games are 'likely to play very differently' from Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies

(Image credit: Failbetter)

Fallen London, the browser-based progenitor of Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies, is celebrating a decade of weirdness and wonderful prose. It's a big achievement given the declining popularity of browser games, and the trickiness in making them profitable. As well as concluding the long-running Ambition storylines, the Failbetter team hosted an AMA that hinted at the series' future. 

While Failbetter isn't ready to discuss its next project in detail, CEO Adam Myers revealed that, for the next few, the studio will probably be making some big changes to how they play.

"We can't say much about future games right now, but at least the next few that we make are likely to play very differently to FL, Sunless Sea, and Skies," he said. "And of course, they'll still have rich narratives with a lot of choice and consequence."

The latest game, Sunless Skies, is set after people venture out into space in improbable space-faring locomotives, but the browser game hasn't quite reached that era yet. It will, however, but things might not play out the same, and Failbetter hasn't decided how the Victorian Space Age will affect the game.  

"Sunless Skies' timeline is a possible future for the universe," said communications director Hannah Flynn. "As of now we don't know exactly what state things will be in come in-game 1905, but we're not worrying about re-writing the whole thing to be in space. Unless we should be? Mercy! To the word mines!"

This has reminded me that I've got a loopy poet whose life has been on pause for over a year, maybe two, so I'd better get back to him. 

Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog. 

Latest in Adventure
Image of illuminated manuscript-style drawings from the game Pentiment.
Random characters kept swearing in Obsidian's font-obsessed murder-mystery when its procedural error system ran amok: 'Naughtiness abounded'
An image of a corpse with the text "You've been re-educated."
I played the lost videogame sequel to 1984, and came away more nostalgic than ever for gaming's awkward adolescence in 1999
Rosella encounters a satyr in a forest in King's Quest 4
Eagle-eyed streamer spots that Roberta Williams' portrait in King's Quest 4 is based on her author photo on the back of the game box: 'I never noticed it before.'
Myst puzzle game
'You’ve been asking, and we’ve been listening': Myst remake adds a whole new world to the classic adventure, one originally introduced in another overhaul from 25 years ago
The character takes a test in a school room.
Expelled! review
Max, protagonist of Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Double Exposure, stares with trepidation at something off-screen with her friend.
Life is Strange: Double Exposure reportedly a 'large loss' for Square Enix, says analyst, who adds: 'The company's IP fundamentally varies too much between good and bad'
Latest in News
Assassin's Creed Shadows immersive mode - Naoe holding a tanto in her hand as two guards fall to the ground behind her.
Assassin's Creed Shadows' first hotfix addresses stability issues and a photo mode crash
A close-up of a scared young girl's face as she stumbles through the woods, a crown of twigs and flowers upon her head.
CD Projekt says it's not using generative AI on The Witcher 4 because it's 'quite tricky when it comes to legal IP ownership'
A plastic duck dressed like a circus weightlifter
The 5th highest-rated game on Steam in 2022 is back with a multiplayer sequel
A still from a video announcement of Game Informer's return, featuring the magazine's Halo 2 issue.
Game Informer is back from the dead: 'The whole team has returned'
An April Fool's Day Palworld game concept about dating Pals
From Palworld movies to Palworld TV shows: 'Everyone under the sun pitched us every idea you can imagine,' says Pocketpair's communications director
Ciri in The Witcher 4
The Witcher 4 won't be out until sometime in 2027 at the soonest, CD Projekt says