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The 7th Guest VR director discuss rebuilding the mansion & working with the original creator

Vertigo Games had quite an IP on its hands when it got the chance to rework 7th Guest into a VR format and it arguably succeeded with flying colors.

TJ Denzer

February 8, 2024 2:10 PM

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Vertigo Games launched The 7th Guest VR in late 2023, taking on the unique opportunity of recrafting a beloved game for new audiences in technology. It was no easy task, but Vertigo Games rose to the challenge and created a solid adaptation of the original title, as well as a good VR game in its own right. How Vertigo approach this challenge? We spoke with Vertigo Games Game Director Paul van der Meer about how it came together.

Van der Meer claims the studio was greatly benefited by having original 7th Guest designer Rob Landeros supporting the project early in its development. Vertigo was able to go to Landeros several times throughout the game’s development to ensure that they were hitting the right notes as they went. That included recreating all of the environments and puzzles of The 7th Guest from the ground up. Even if assets survived, the team couldn’t exactly use them in a VR setting, so in many cases, they just had to work with what they could see from the original game as they re-designed it in VR.

One of the most interesting parts of redesigning The 7th Guest in VR was that Vertigo had to fill in the blanks in a lot of places. Considering you can look all the way around you in The 7th Guest VR at all times, that meant the team had to make sure it fully realized the setting. They had to take some liberties, which always comes with some risks on a classic game, but those risks ended up paying off in the end.

That especially includes the use of actors in the game. A huge part of the original 7th Guest were the FMV actors delivering their roles as ghosts in the mansion. The 7th Guest VR keeps this aspect delightfully intact with new technology that allowed them to film new actors and their roles in a way that you would be able to see around them in 3D fashion in the game’s environment. It comes out keeping that classic feel intact as you interact with the game’s ghosts and puzzles.

The 7th Guest VR is available now on PS VR2, Meta Quest headsets, and SteamVR on PC. Want more videos like this 7th Guest VR interview? Be sure to check out our YouTube channels at Shacknews and Shacknews Interviews to see our latest video gameplay, interviews, unboxings, reviews, and more on the latest video games, technology, and toys.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.