Xbox-exclusive sci-fi series Humans challenges what it means to be real

By Adam Rosenberg April 7, 2014

xbox entertainment studios may continue operate new owner real humans — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Xbox Entertainment Studios is developing a sci-fi series called Humans, based on the Swedish series Real Humans, that is set to premiere in 2015, according to Microsoft. It’s the product of a partnership between XES and the U.K.’s Channel 4, with the story following a family that buys a “Synth” – a humanoid helper robot and the “hot” gadget of the day – that begins to develop emotions. It’s not clear how closely Humans sticks to the Swedish series that inspired it, but you might want to hold off on watching or reading about the foreign production if you’d like to remain spoiler-free.

The series is in development now, with Sam Vincent and Jonathan Brackley (Spooks, known as MI5 in the U.S.) handling the writing in advance of a summer 2014 start to production. The series will be produced by Kudos, the company behind several award winning British shows, including The Hour, Utopia, and Broadchurch. The series will consist of eight, one hour episodes.

There’s no word on which platforms will host the series, but it’s reasonable to expect that Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to view it on Xbox 360 and Xbox One at the very least, if not Xbox.com as well.

“Humans not only questions personal relationships, we loved how this sci-fi show toys with reality and our connection to technology,” XES President Nancy Tellem said in a statement.

There’ve been lots of rumors relating to what Xbox’s new entertainment division is up to since its connection to the Xbox brand was revealed during the Xbox One reveal in 2013. We know for a fact that a Halo-inspired series is in development, with Steven Spielberg serving as producer, and it’s also confirmed that a video game documentary series is in the works, with the premiere episode to focus on the infamous E.T. game for Atari 2600.

“Exploring themes of love, discrimination and integration, this thrilling, beautifully written series allows us to get under the skin of what it means to be human in the most compelling way,” Jane Featherstone, Executive Producer for Kudos said. “The bold, innovative storylines and subject matter lend themselves perfectly to this pioneering collaboration with Channel 4 and Xbox.”

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Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

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