Skip to main content

Myst sequel Riven is getting a full remake from developer Cyan Worlds

Cyan Worlds has announced that it is remaking the 1997 PC game Riven: The Sequel to Myst. The indie studio wrote in a blog post on Monday that the game is being remade thanks to a grassroots fans project called The Starry Expanse Project.

Riven Announcement

Riven is a puzzle adventure game in which Atrus employs the help of the Stranger and their ability to link books to different worlds known as “Ages” to rescue his wife from his father, Gehn. The Starry Expanse Project, which was founded in 2009, is comprised of a team of dedicated fans who took the initiative to undertake a faithful recreation of Riven from scratch, matching the camera and texture with those of the image renders from the original game in a fully 3D environment. However, the team stopped the project when Cyan began its official efforts to remake the game, with both parties reaching an agreement for the studio to use parts of the fan project for reference.

“We spoke confidentially with the Starry Expanse team a couple of years ago about the exciting news that Cyan finally had the resources to tackle remaking Riven,” Cyan said. “Together, we reached an agreement which allowed us to reference core pieces of their efforts to jump-start our development. They subsequently ceased development on The Starry Expanse Project, as our official efforts to remake Riven began.”

Although The Starry Expanse Project dissipated after helping kick off the Riven remake, Cyan said it has still kept in touch with most of the members behind it. It even went so far as to hire one of them to work on the official remake.

Cyan said on its FAQ page that the remake of Riven will not be an update to the original game. The list of platforms it will be made for is unknown.

Editors' Recommendations

Cristina Alexander
Cristina Alexander has been writing since 2014, from opining about pop culture on her personal blog in college to reporting…
PlayStation Plus’ most notable free April offerings come from Microsoft
Four players stand together in the 4v4 PvP mode of Minecraft Legends.

Sony outlined all the new offerings PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers can expect in April; surprisingly, Microsoft is the company behind two of this month's four offerings, Minecraft Legends, and the Overwatch 2 Mega Bundle.

On April 2, PS Plus can get those two things free of charge in addition to Immortals of Aveum and Skul: The Hero Slayer. Immortals of Aveum is a single-player shooter where players use magic instead of weapons. Although the thing it's most notable for is flopping upon its release, Immortals of Aveum is still a solid shooter that you might have missed out on, and you should give it a shot now that you can get it through PS Plus. Meanwhile, Skul: The Hero Slayer is a tough 2D platformer roguelike that should entertain fans of that genre for quite some time.

Read more
These are the 10 best gaming PCs I’d recommend to anyone
Graphics card in the CLX Hathor PC.

We review dozens of gaming PCs each year. In 2024, there are a ton of great options, but we've narrowed down a list of the 10 best gaming desktops that deserve your hard-earned money.

In 2024, we still recommend the Alienware Aurora R16 due to its fantastic design, solid performance, and decent value. However, there are several other options depending on your needs and budget. If you want a deeper look into how we evaluate gaming PCs, make sure to read our post on how we review desktops.

Read more
Mecha Break’s robot customization shakes up the battle royale formula
Mecha Break robot head with glowing blue eyes

Mecha Break isn't the kind of multiplayer game you can master right away.

You might equip a lance that you barely know how to use because it seemed like a good idea, and spend the rest of a round attempting to bash yourself into enemies to help your teammates. It incorporates action that's more similar to that of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon than it is to the shooter-focused gameplay in Gundam Evolution, Bandai Namco's multiplayer mecha shooter that shut down last year. Overwatch does come to mind, but in a way where mechs are still the focus rather than the pilots within them.

Read more