We are Will Byles and Tom Heaton of Supermassive Games, the studio that created Until Dawn for PS4. AMA!

Are you making a sequel? I think an anthology series where the next game is completely unrelated works best!

Without giving too much away, we are already working on our next game, and we think and hope that Until Dawn fans will love it.

When could we see the new game? Would the first glimpse/ announcemeant be before or after e3 2016?

We are at very early stages at the moment, so we're not even thinking about an announcement yet.

Would you be able to tell us if it is being published by Sony or not?

Nope.

"Nope we can't tell you that" or "Nope it's not being published by Sony"?

And don't you dare answer with "Yes"

No, we can't tell you.

For sequel concepts have you guys considered the thought of other horror genres or cryptids? I personally would love to see an Until Dawn sequel with the sci-fi horror genre or more cryptid creatures like Skin-Walkers or the Mothman, etc.

Obviously we're not going to go into specifics but like with Until Dawn we like our stories to tie into existing myths or real history.

Do you plan to release the death ratios of the characters? Or is there any way to know which characters survive more than the others?

That's a good question, and no. Unfortunately we don't have that data.

I think we all know Matt dies the most, let's be honest.

We're just doing the maths here.

We think it might be Emily or Chris. We're counting on our fingers here, but we think it's Chris with 8 deaths.

Is the rumor about an Until Dawn DLC on-rails first person shooter for PSVR titled "Rush of Blood" true? If so, are you developing it?

link: http://www.destructoid.com/rumor-new-dlc-coming-for-until-dawn-titled-rush-of-blood-316687.phtml?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

P.S. Loved Until Dawn! Great work!

We're not able to discuss these rumours today. Sorry.

Why wendigos? Like obviously the game was based around common horror movie stereotypes them BAM we have wendigos. How did that come up in the process and in any potential dlc/sequel will you follow the same route of common tropes to wild outlandish thing? Thanks for your work it's definitely my personal GOTY

From the outset we wanted to subvert the slasher genre and play with different genres in the same game. The Wendigo myth fits well with the game's location. And it's the source of most shapeshifter legends.

How was it to work with all the different actors and which ones where your favorite?

It was Larry, because we went out and got drunk with him.

Was it intentional to make Emiliy so... well "bitchy"? Also do you intend to make another game but in another setting? (Not a sequel but make another game with a popular horror movie trope, say vampire castle or something like that)

Emily's character isn't just one shade. She can be bitchy at first, but who would blame her given her situation. Her character arc is potentially one of the most interesting and heroic of the game. She is both of our favourite character.

THANK YOU! In my opinion she is the most unique and complex character in the game. I like all of them but Emily is my favourite as well. I find her really well written.

I found Mike really interesting to be honest. Because he was such a dude-bro guy as soon as there were more than one other person present, always trying to impress either Emily, Jess or whoever was watching really. As soon as it was just Jess and him though, you could see little cracks of insecurity coming through. He wasn't AS jokey and he got surprisingly rattled by some "minor" things. It gave the "super charismatic favorite" an actual depth that catapulted him to be my favorite with a better reason than "He does funny joke"

Glad you liked him. We set out to make strong, identifiable but flawed characters. It was really important to get players engaged and caring about them.

How many actors did you pitch Until Dawn to who turned it down because they didn't think it would work or just weren't interested? If so, who?

We pretty much got everyone we wanted. And they were awesome.

When did you guys first come up with the idea for Until Dawn?

It was in about 2010. We were working on something similar and Sony came to us with the basic concept for a Move title and a teen horror called Until Dawn. There was only a bare bones idea. we then developed the story and gameplay in house. And as you probably know it then transitioned over to PS4.

What was the reasoning behind cancelling the original PS3 game back in 2013 and opting to reboot the game as a PS4 release?

Have you guys played any of the Quantic Dream games such as Heavy Rain or Beyond:Two Souls? If so, what do you think of them and did you draw any inspiration from them during the development of Until Dawn?

p.s. Loved the game guys, fingers crossed for a sequel.

When we first showed it publicly there was a lot of community demand for a non-Move version. PS4 was coming over the horizon and we knew we had a great story. It seemed rude not to.

Quantic Dream have been a great vanguard for Interactive Drama and an inspiration.

In Until Dawn, which character's death was the most fun to write?

we had whole meetings devoted to gory deaths. How depressing is that? Will's favourite is Josh's bursting head. Tom's is Emily in the ore grinder.

Any particular reason why Josh's character can only either be dead or a Wendigo in the game's final outcome? He's one of my fav characters and I think he deserves a happy ending is all. :) Fantastic game, love it and can't stop obsessing.

Ultimately the story is a tragedy about Josh.

Very much enjoyed Until Dawn. Played it almost completely blind, so was very impressed with what I got out of it.

My first question is about the game itself. The opening of Until Dawn tries very hard to empaphise how important your choices are, and the significance of the Butterfly Effect, but on repeat playthroughs it becomes a little obvious that a lot of the effects aren't very significant, and the game will always head down the same path no matter what actions you take. What lead to this constraint? Was it a technical issue, a practical one, or a desire to preserve a somewhat contained narrative no matter what?

Secondly, how does the Until Dawn narrative we got, compare to the original pitches. I read that the script was almost entirely rewritten at one point, but was it a completely different story originally?

Thirdly, [SPOILER] why do Mike and Sam freak out in the final chapter even if they only see a single body. It is a massive immersion breaker for me (and many people over at /r/UntilDawn).

Thanks for the game though, it was great overall.

Great that you enjoyed the game. The thing about the branching in Until Dawn is that you can only change what your character could change at that point in the game. So there is a core narrative, which is the way things are set up on Blackwood mountain. We are really happy with the amount of branching in the narrative, every choice affects something. That said, we would like to see even more branching ourselves, because we think it really works.

So, a dead body wouldn't freak you out, only a big pile of them?

They say things like 'There's so many' and 'They're all dead' even though you can have only one person there, and that person is someone you don't know.

If you play on a killing playthrough they react at very specific moments to where the bodies are, but even if the bodies aren't there they will still react that way.

Another has a similar reaction using plurals over and over even if there is only one body.

Look - it's difficult, right. :) With so many variations, it's genuinely tough to make sure you catch everything.

I noticed that you have posters for both the innkeepers and the house of the devil in the home cinema room in the lodge. Are you guys a big fan of Ti West? Did he help at all with the making of the game?

They are all Glass Eye Pix films which is Larry's production company.

What was the team's greatest source of inspiration for Until Dawn? What would you say its roots are?

This might sound glib, but it's every horror film ever made.

This is a very selfish question so I apologise in advance! I absolutely love Until Dawn and consider it one of the best games in recent years. I was wondering when would your studio be hiring for your next game? I've been checking the Supermassive jobs board pretty religiously over the past few months but it always seems to be empty.

Just keep looking. The jobs will go up there when we're hiring for them. But if you want to send your CV in then just send it in. We're always on the look out for talent.

What happened to Wolfie? Will the second game be related to the first game?

As with all of our characters, if you don't see him die, he's not dead.

Hi guys! First of, I'd like to thank you for the great game. Visuals were nice, loved the story and enjoy the tweeks you made to the point and click formula.

I'm assuming you are working on a sequel or new game already. Will you be using and/or expanding on the "Butterfly effect" game mechanic in the future?

We are definitely looking to build on what worked in Until Dawn, including the Butterfly Effect.

[SPOILERS] Is it possible that there will be DLC where you can save Josh if wendigo Hannah doesn't kill him? I've seen a lot of great ideas for scenarios like this on tumblr and reddit. Or possibly a sequel where the (remaining) group goes back?

We've seen them too and they're great. But we are not currently working on any DLC for Until Dawn at the moment.

how was each actor cast into their role?
what is your favorite line/dialogue from the game?
lastly, have both of you played it? how many times hahah
edit: that is a sweetass Psycho dummy behind you guys

There's a what behind us? Aaaargh

We used a casting director in LA and sat around a pool drinking cocktails. She did all the work.

Were there any cool features or scenes that you wanted to make, but couldn't due to budget/schedule?

We did pretty much everthing we planned to do. Some of the feedback that we've had has given us ideas for the future, and we've had ideas since we finished the game that we would definitely like to follow up on in our next game.

What is the one thing you would tell new developers who have an interest in video game design?

Hi Jack, I'd say that it's a great time to get into game design. Nowadays there are loads of tools available to help people make games, so get busy and make something. It's a great way to develop and show off your skills. There are more platforms and genres then there have ever been.

What was the inspiration behind the Art Design of Until Dawn? And how was this used to create the Environments that we see in the game?

P.S. Absolutely loved Until Dawn, fantastic work from everyone at Supermassive! Got the Platinum trophy for it last weekend =)

Well done on the Platinum. We wanted to make this look as much like a movie possible, so rather than an art director we had a Production Designer who went through a process similar to how it would be done on a film. Because we had fixed cameras we were able to compose shots using traditional film styling.

What is your favourite ending of the game?

Will says his favourite ending is where the story is the most gruesome and violent all the way through. And only Sam survives.

What are some of your favorite horror movies?

Halloween, The Exorcist, One Missed Call, The Grudge, The Haunting, Evil Dead 2.

Just wanted to say thanks first for making such a great game! Anyway, I have three questions. 1. Which do you prefer? Crunchy or creamy peanut butter? 2. Who's your favorite character in the game? 3. Will you make any more games in the future?

Smooth

Emily

Yes

Little poem for you there.

What are some of your favorite scenes from Until Dawn, and what would you change if you were to do a sequel?

Tom's favourite scene is Mike deciding whether to shoot Emily (if that happens). Will's is Ashley following Jessica's voice. Actually Tom has changed his mind, it's Ashley and Chris kissing.

Ive got 2 questions!

1.What inspired you to make this game the way it is?

2.What are the characters last names? I know that Mike's is Munroe and Josh's is Washington, but what about everyone else?

We did write a whole bunch of surnames but friends don't really use surnames with each other, so they just didn't get used.

What inspired us to make the game? We all love horror movies and we knew that if we could make decision making work then we would have the basis of a great experience. We wanted to put the player in the shoes of the slasher victims.

Larry Fessenden worked on a few other film projects involving the Wendigo creature. How big of an influence did he have on including them in the game? Did you guys hire him because of his interest in the Wendigo legend?

It was serendipity. The Wendigos were already in the story when Larry came on board.

I have another. What's the big difference from novel writing and game story writing?

Branching narrative is the biggest difference for us. We also have to deal with exposition and character development in a different way because you can't read their thoughts. It's more like screenplay writing.

Hi! Huge fan of the game and I love it so much it's inspired me to write my own horror stories! My question is how did you come to work with Larry Fessenden and Graham Reznick, and what was it like to work with them?

Good luck with the writing. Working with Larry and Graham was awesome. We met a lot of writers and directors before we met Larry, and Larry introduced us to Graham. We'd love to work with them again.

While brainstorming did you ever had a different "monster" idea or did you guys always had the intention of doing the story Wendigo related? What about the location? Was it always supposed to be in a snowy isolated mountain?

Yes. It was always supposed to be in a snowy isolated mountain. And it was always the Wendigo.

Nice! If it's not much to ask, what was the main inspiration for it? The actual legend? Or did you grab some ideas and visuals from something else?

There are so many descriptions of the Wendigo in myth, and they are all conflicting. The main inspiration was the effects of starvation and frostbite, which is why the eyelids and lips have receded and the teeth have grown.

Do you guys like Ashley? How do you feel about her relationship with Emily depending on your choices?

We love Ashley. But she's complex. So you better stay on the right side of her.

At what point did you guys decide to make the switch from the slasher genre to the more supernatural elements? Was that planned all along or decided later down the road? Absolute amazing marketing by the way, being able to hide all of that! :)

The supernatural element was part of the narrative all along. It was always very tempting to show some of the supernatural elements, because you always want to show cool stuff. But we're glad we didn't because the twists worked really well. But if you look carefully at early trailers you will see some hints.

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

Will: nuts Tom: marmalade