EA Originals is a program made to support titles coming from independent studios, placing them in front of gamers that may be interested in something fresh and unique. Sea of Solitude from Jo-Mei Games is the next big EA Originals release, scheduled to arrive on July 5 and usher players through an emotional journey as they fight to learn what it means to be human.
Sea of Solitude‘s gameplay takes players across a city falling deeper into water and they take on challenges and puzzles to open up different parts of the flooded city. Kay, the lead character, is a human slowly transforming into a monster and the game is an exploration of her circumstance as well as the monsters she encounters throughout, all while the surrounding area gets more dangerous. The game has been in development publicly for years but got a major boost in profile when game designer Cornelia Geppert took the stage to show Sea of Solitude off at EA Play during E3 2018.
Jo-Mei Games is based in Berlin and led by Geppert, who formerly worked as an illustrator and character designer for the comic book series Mosaik when she was 17. She met Boris Munser while working on the ParaWorld, a 2006 real-time strategy PC game, and the two founded Jo-Mei. Sea of Solitude is the studio’s first title and Geppert wrote it in addition to designing and serving as art director.
Mainstream gaming experiences get the limelight most of the time but there’s a collection of games from smaller developers that are worthy of attention, but often fly under the radar. EA Originals is a means for EA to shine a spotlight on those titles and the publisher also gives all profits to the studio that develops the game. Unravel from ColdWood Interactive was the flagship EA Originals game when the program was announced in 2016 and the title received a sequel in 2018.
A Way Out is another title supported by EA Originals that enjoyed success within the program and, on July 5, we’ll see if Sea of Solitude is able to carry the torch when it launches on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
