What I Did In 2017

Another busy year....!

What I Did In 2016

*phew*

I kept busy...

You Are Hearing Me Talk...to Front Row

Radio 4's Front Row is one of the BBC's most popular and well-regarded magazine shows on arts and entertainment, so it was pretty neat to be asked to come on and talk about writing for videogames for an audience of listeners who are likely to be outside the wheelhouse of most things games related...

This month has seen two big new releases in the video gaming world: the highly anticipated No Man Sky, which promises an infinite, constantly regenerating universe for players to discover, and the latest instalment in the sci-fi blockbuster franchise Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. From an economic perspective, games have outperformed other creative industries for years, and they're also nurturing the best creative writing talent. 

 

So how do writers fit in to this multi-billion pound industry? Novelist and scriptwriter James Swallow, whose game writing credits include Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and No Man's Sky, and scriptwriter and story designer Rhianna Pratchett, whose credits include Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, discuss.

 

Samira Ahmed interviewed m'colleague Rhianna Pratchett and I on last Friday's show, where we talked about our work on the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex games, as well as the nature of narrative design and the future of game stories; check out the show here via this Link - Rhi and I are on from the 13:26 mark...

DEUS EX DAY!

The wait is over; it's time to get augmented and return to the dark world of cyberpunk and conspiracy in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided....

The year is 2029, and mechanically augmented humans have now been deemed outcasts, living a live of segregation on the fringes of society. Adam Jensen is now an experienced covert operative, forced to work in a world that has grown to despise his kind. Armed with a new arsenal of state-of-the-art weapons and augmentations, he must find a path through a wilderness of secrets and learn who to trust, if he is to unravel the vast conspiracy that threatens to control the future of all humanity...

Back in 2008 I was recruited to work on Deus Ex: Human Revolution with the Eidos Montreal studio, starting a working relationship with the EM team that I am proud to still be a part of eight years on. DXHR was a hit that earned us great criticial acclaim, including several award nominations (among them a personal BAFTA nom for Best Story!); I got to follow that up with original fiction in the novel Deus Ex: Icarus Effect and the eBook novella Deus Ex: Fallen Angel, along with story work on the mobile title Deus Ex: The Fall.

But now the next iteration of stories in the Deus Ex world have arrived, and it has been my pleasure to contribute to the critical path storyline for Mankind Divided - available today on PC, Playstation 4 and XBox One platforms. Also officially available today is Deus Ex: Black Light, my original novel that spans the gap between DXHR and DXMD, and Deus Ex: Hard Line, an exclusive digital novella available with the DXMD Day One and Collector's Edition releases.

 

For more information about the world of Deus Ex, check out the official site Here.

Deus Ex: Black Light is available from Titan Books Here.

DEUS EX: BLACK LIGHT is out next week!

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided hits next week on August 23rd, but that's also the official release date for Deus Ex: Black Light, the prequel novel I wrote that connects the storyline of the new game to the shattering conclusion of the previous game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution...

At the conclusion of Human Revolution, cybernetically-enhanced ex-cop Adam Jensen was driven to stop a global conspiracy against his fellow augmented - an act that plunged the world into turmoil and threw Jensen into an uncertain future. Months later, he awakens in a secure medical facility with missing memories and new dangers to face.

Black Light takes Jensen back to where it all began, on the mean streets of Detroit, and sets up the events that will lead him into Mankind Divided...

 

 

The year is 2029, and the shining promise of a new age of human augmentation is in ruins in the wake of the devastating ‘Aug Incident’ – a horrific catastrophe triggered by a cabal of shadowy power brokers, where millions of cybernetically-enhanced people suffered a forced psychotic break.

Awakening in the aftermath of a changed world, with gaps in his memories and suspicion on all sides, augmented ex-cop and former security operative Adam Jensen struggles to piece his life back together, in a new reality where ‘Augs’ have become the targets of hatred, fear and violent discrimination.

Now the dark forces behind the Incident are gathering once again, reaching out to manipulate the course of global events through terror and intimidation. To find the answers that he seeks and the people who destroyed everything he knew, Jensen must return to the ashes of the past, reconnect with old allies, and risk all to expose a deadly conspiracy – but in a world shattered by secrets, can the truth be brought into the light?

Deus Ex: Black Light is published by Titan Books in the UK and US in both dead-tree and ebook editions on the 23rd (details Here), and Milady Books will be releasing a French-language edition a few days later on the 26th (details Here).

Check out a sneak peek at the first few chapters of Here, or if you'd like to see more of the work by the novel's cover artist (one of the senior concept artists at Eidos Montreal), visit the online portolio of Bruno Gauthier LeBlanc right Here.

DEUS EX: HARD LINE cover reveal

We're just over a week away from the release of the next iteraton of the Deus Ex videogame franchise on August 23rd, and I've been very proud to be a part of the writing team behind Deus Ex: Mankind Divided! But working on the story and script for the game hasn't been my only contribution to the world of this conspiracy-laden cyberpunk future - the 23rd will also see the release of Deus Ex: Black Light, a prequel novel that fills in some of the missing time between the end of the previous game Human Revolution and the start of Mankind Divided.

But that's not all: I've also authored the new original eBook novella Deus Ex: Hard Line (featuring the backstory of the character Alex Vega) which will be available as part of the Collector's Edition and Day One Edition releases of DXMD.

 

I love this moody, noir-inspired cover for Hard Line by Nicolas Lizotte, one of the senior concept artists at Eidos Montreal! You can see more of Nicolas's work Here at his online portfolio.

You can learn more about everything else in the Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Collector's Edition by checking out this unboxing video with producer Jean-Francois Dugas Here.

 

New Book Day - Deus Ex: Black Light

Nomad Updates!

I don't think I've deluged all you good people with quite enough promo madness for my new novel just yet; and so I've got a couple more updates for your entertainment...

First, Here I am appearing on my good friend Adam Rosser's Game On show talking about Nomad (even reading a bit) and a little about Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

Then, Here's me talking to The Irish Times about the importance of locations in writing and when writing.

And however you want to slice it, it seems that all this bloggage has been doing the trick, because I am very pleased to say that Nomad has leapt from the #12 slot in last week's hardcover bestseller list to #5 for this week (and #6 in the Sunday Times!)

So to everyone out there who bought my book, please accept a big thank you from me! You support is very much appreciated! (And for anyone who hasn't yet picked up a copy, allow me to gently remind you that Nomad is available online and at all good bookstores!)

You Are Hearing Me Talk...to BAFTA Guru

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) have been doing a lot over the past few years to make videogames an important part of their organization, and most recently there was a whole day of games-related events as part of the BAFTA Guru program - as the official site Here says, "Guru is bursting with advice from the best creative minds in the industries so whether you're an actor, a games developer or a cinematographer, we've got something for you."

I was pleased to be part of the Guru Live event last month, where I took part in a panel called "The Storytellers", along with Meg Jayanth (80 Days) and Rob Yescombe (The Division), hosted by Guy Cocker, where we talked about the various challenges of writing for interactive media. You can click on the panel below or go Here to listen.

 
BAFTA Guru have now put up all the audio recordings from the games day and you can check out the rest of them Here.

DEUS EX: BLACK LIGHT cover reveal!

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is the next release in the Deus Ex videogame saga, due out on August 23rd - and as well as writing for DXMD, as part of the expanding franchise I've written a new tie-in novel - Deus Ex: Black Light.

 

The year is 2029, and the shining promise of a new age of human augmentation is in ruins in the wake of the devastating ‘Aug Incident’ – a horrific catastrophe triggered by a cabal of shadowy power brokers, where millions of cybernetically-enhanced people suffered a forced psychotic break.

Awakening in the aftermath of a changed world, with gaps in his memories and suspicion on all sides, augmented ex-cop and former security operative Adam Jensen struggles to piece his life back together, in a new reality where ‘Augs’ have become the targets of hatred, fear and violent discrimination.

Now the dark forces behind the Incident are gathering once again, reaching out to manipulate the course of global events through terror and intimidation. To find the answers that he seeks and the people who destroyed everything he knew, Jensen must return to the ashes of the past, reconnect with old allies, and risk all to expose a deadly conspiracy – but in a world shattered by secrets, can the truth be brought into the light?

The novel is set between the end of Human Revolution and the beginning of Mankind Divided; Deus Ex: Black Light will be published in paperback and eBook editions by Titan Books on August 23rd.

Eidos Montreal's offical blog announced the release Here.

 

DEUS EX MANKIND DIVIDED 101 Trailer

August rolls ever closer, and with it comes the release of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the next in the landmark Deus Ex game series; I worked on the script and story for DXMD, and you can hear some of that in this new trailer - six whole minutes of hero Adam Jensen laying out the themes and scenario around the events of Mankind Divided. (Warning: some story spoilers in here for a few early plot elements).

 

 

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is out on August 23rd of Playstation 4, XBox One and PC platforms - as will my new Deus Ex novel Black Light, which acts as a bridge between the end of the previous game Human Revolution and the beginning of DXMD.

Deus Ex Is Freedom

I'd like to think that all the nice people out there who read this blog have of course already played the excellent Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which I am proud to say got me a BAFTA nomination for my writing contribution. The next installment - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - and my tie-in novel Black Light wil be out in August, but if you have an Xbox 360 or XBox One and you'd like DXHR for the princely sum of nothing at all, then you can download it for free as part of the Games With Gold program until January 31st.

You can access Games With Gold via the xbox.com site or your XBox dashboard...

I Speak Games

In what has now become something of an annual pre-Christmas tradition, Siobhán Thomas of the London South Bank University - she's Senior Lecturer and Course Director of the BA (Hons) Game Cultures course there - has wrangled together myself and a group of games writers to talk about what it is we do.

Under the banner of the LSBU and in association with the International Games Developers Association London and The Writer's Guild of Great Britain, I'll be joining a bunch of industry veterans to talk about this year's theme of combining narrative with gameplay; here's the event blurb...

Playing the Story – how to marry gameplay with narrative without divorcing the player.

With narrative-driven and narrative-heavy games getting 9/10 and 10/10 reviews, has the era of story in games arrived, or is plot still ‘gameplay’s bitch’?

Join Rhianna (Tomb Raider) Pratchett, James (Deus Ex) Swallow, Andrew (Fable: Legends) Walsh, Ed (Brink) Stern and Tom (Subnautica) Jubert for a panel on the tricks, traps and travails of making stories work in games. After the event we’ll be heading over to The Albert Arms pub for further chat and networking.

The panel will take place at the Keyworth Centre, London South Bank University on Wednesday, December 9th from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. Tickets are free but limited in number; to register for one, click Here.

DEUS EX gets AUGed

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is due out next year, and the anticipation has been high since we first busted out our reveal trailer; but one thing a decade and a half of working in the games industry had taught me is that everything takes longer than you expect it to. Modern videogames are massive projects with a myriad of moving parts, and getting them right is as much art as it is science.

 

We were due to see DXMD arriving on PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4 in a couple of months time, but a recent announcement from Eidos Montreal has pushed that release date back to August 23rd 2016 - the month of "aug" seems very fitting indeed.  Why the delay? Simply put, it's to make sure that Mankind Divided is the best it can possibly be, and as my boss at EM David Anfossi said "This game is a huge part of our lives and we don't want to compromise on its quality."

Of course, delaying the game also has a knock-on effect of delaying the release of Deus Ex: Black Light, the original tie-in novel I've written for Titan Books which covers the gap between the end of the previous game Human Revolution and the start of Mankind Divided. The plan is for Black Light to hit bookstores for a day-and-date with the game on the 23rd; we're also planning more original fiction content in the form of an exclusive ebook novella (just like Deus Ex: Fallen Angel, which was released with the Human Revolution Director's Cut), as well as a series of comics.

Black Light is available for pre-order now, and while you wait for it and Mankind Divided, my previous Deus Ex novel Icarus Effect is still in print, and Fallen Angel is available as a free PDF download Here.

 

DEUS EX & DARK FUTURE interviews

Recently I chatted to the Game Debate website about a couple of futuristic game projects I've been working on - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Dark Future: Blood Red States - and they've now posted both parts of an interview with me over on their website.

Part one, where I enthuse about Deus Ex and drop some hints about my tie-in novel Black Light, can be found Here.

Part two, in which I speak about the concepts and intentions for Blood Red States, can be found Here.

DEUS EX: MANKIND DIVIDED arrives February 2016

Start the clock - Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, the next blockbuster game in the Deus Ex saga, will be arriving on PC, XBox One and Playstation 4 platforms on February 23rd 2016.

 

The 23rd is going to be a busy date for me - I have a new novel coming out that day too! Keep an eye on the official Deus Ex website (and this blog!) in the months ahead as the launch date approaches; I'll be talking more about my work on the game in the near future....

You are seeing me talk... To SBOC

This week sees the release of Disney Infinity 3.0, along with a whole bunch of Star Wars themed materials - including the Twilight of the Republic playset, Clone Wars and Rebels figures I worked on as scriptwriter.

Reviews are looking good - the gamer community is liking what we've done - and I've been able to talk a little bit about the game (and also the other big project I'm working on, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided) with the gang from the SBOC video podcast.

 

 Check out episode #6 of SBOC's Weekly Show and find me from the 26.32 mark...

A new DEUS EX novel!

The biggest geekathon on the planet took place over the weekend at San Diego Comic Con, and many cool things were revealed there; among them was this:

Also in the works: a new novel written by @jmswallow, which will will be set between the events of Human Revolution and Mankind Divided!

— Deus Ex (@DeusEx) July 11, 2015

And indeed it is so. I've been writing for the Deus Ex franchise since 2008, with my work on the Human Revolution videogame, the Icarus Effect novel, The Fall for mobile platforms, the Fallen Angel novella (still available for free right Here) and most recently the forthcoming Mankind Divided game. 

Those are going to be joined by a new full-length novel I'm writing - the working title is Black Light - that will take the character of Adam Jensen from the explosive ending of Human Revolution and into the narrative of Mankind Divided two years later.

Familiar faces will return, new mysteries will be revealed, and more - look for the book next year around the same time as the release for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and keep an eye on this blog for more details in the coming months...

DEUS EX: MANKIND DIVIDED hits E3!

This week is the big E3 videogames trade show over in sunny Los Angeles, and as part of the hype extravaganza, m'colleagues at Eidos Montreal have been showing off new footage from Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, our new game and sequel to 2011's blockbuster hit Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Rather than waste time with words, I'll just let the game do the talking with a video dump...

You can also check out the amazing high def power of the Dawn Engine - the tech behind DXMD - in this brief demo showing the Golem City ghetto...

And lastly, here's producer Jean-Francois Dugas showing off a couple of live play-throughs of the Golem City environment from early in the DXMD story...

Get Deus Ex: Fallen Angel For Free!

A big thank-you to everyone out there for your enthusiasm following the announcement of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided! If you haven't already seen the awesome announcement trailer, take a look Here!

To reiterate, I am indeed involved once again in the writing on this blockbuster game, and very proud to be so. I've also had a lot of people asking me if I'll be writing another Deus Ex tie-in novel as I did with Icarus Effect back in 2011 (which, I hasten to add, is still available in all good bookstores in UK, US, Hungarian, Italian and German editions...)

But to answer the question - I can't confirm anything right now; however, I will say we are in discussions about future fiction ideas under the Deus Ex Universe banner, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, you can click Here to download a free digital ebook of my novella Deus Ex: Fallen Angel directly from Eidos Montreal!

Fallen Angel is a short prequel centred on the popular character of Faridah Malik, who acts as Adam Jensen's VTOL pilot in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and this story tells how she came to be in the employ of Sarif Industries at the start of DX:HR; the story also ties into the "Shanghai Justice" mission from later in the game.