{"id":13561,"date":"2022-04-08T14:45:48","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T12:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1623754"},"modified":"2022-04-08T14:58:09","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T12:58:09","slug":"returnal-star-would-absolutely-come-back-for-sequel-after-big-bafta-win","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/returnal-star-would-absolutely-come-back-for-sequel-after-big-bafta-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Returnal star would \u201cabsolutely\u201d come back for sequel after big BAFTA win"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Rob Leane\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 08 April 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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At the BAFTA Games Awards 2022<\/a>, Returnal was one of the big winners of the night, taking home the awards for Best Game, Music, Audio Achievement and Performer in a Leading Role.<\/p>\n

With all this gong-laden success, as the development team from Sony\u2019s Finnish studio Housemarque descend on London to celebrate, it\u2019s only natural to wonder if a sequel or expansion could be on the cards for Returnal.<\/p>\n

When Jane Perry, the actor who won the BAFTA for her game-leading performance as Selene Vassos in Returnal, walked into the BAFTA Games Awards press area carrying her hefty trophy, RadioTimes.com<\/a> couldn\u2019t help but ask if she\u2019d be interested in returning to the character.<\/p>\n

Perry told us and other members of the press: \u201cIt is called Returnal, so yeah, I\u2019ll come back. Absolutely. Oh, yeah. I\u2019m very interested in her and her progression, I love Selene as a character, and I\u2019d be absolutely delighted to continue to play her. For sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for why the character of Selene, a middle-aged single mother who is trapped in a time loop on an alien world, has resonated with players and awards jurors alike, Perry is quick to credit the developers from Housemarque.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I think that\u2019s very unique, you know, and kudos to Housemarque. I think they kind of took a risk, you know? Like, they could have had a younger gal, or they could have had a man, but no.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry recalls talking to the game\u2019s director, Harry Krueger, prior to taking on the role. She remembers: \u201cHe said, \u2018You know, when I was thinking about this character, I myself was a parent, and I felt this kind of tension\u2019. I hope I\u2019m not telling tales out of school, but I think we all feel this tension of being a parent and having a career, and what can come from that is really profound.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think they felt that having a middle-aged woman would best express that kind of tension. And I think it\u2019s wonderful to have, you know, we talk a lot about diversity across the board. And I don\u2019t think in games we see so many older women kicking butt the way Selene does.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jane Perry wins Performer in a Leading Role at the BAFTA Games Awards<\/span><\/figcaption> Hannah Taylor\/Shutterstock for BAFTA<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Numerous developers from Housemarque soon pour into the room, proudly clutching their own BAFTAs, having just picked up the award for Best Game. What does it mean to the team to be the big winners of the night?<\/p>\n

Narrative designer Eevi Korhonen tells us: \u201cWell, in Finland we have this saying, \u2018torille\u2019, which means \u2018to the square\u2019. So anytime Finland is winning big, when it comes to sports or anything, you say \u2018torille\u2019, which means that you go to the big market square to celebrate. People get a little crazy. They start taking their clothes off and swimming in the fountain. And this feels like torille.\u201d<\/p>\n

We strongly advise the team not to swim in any fountains or water masses they might find in London, but the celebratory atmosphere is certainly infectious. It\u2019s especially nice to see a game with bold, experimental leanings picking up awards. Returnal\u2019s gameplay is hard, its story is fraught with ambiguity, and there isn\u2019t even an option to save the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we just got the go ahead from Sony to do this dark, weird thing,\u201d Korhonen says of the game. \u201cCertainly, at some point, I was convinced that somebody\u2019s gonna be like, \u2018That\u2019s not gonna fly. This is too weird.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cLike, you know, we intentionally wanted the story to be ambiguous, that there will be no single canonical interpretation. And I felt like, are we just going too deep? Like, are we going too artsy, or, you know, too honest or unintelligible. But it\u2019s been great to see that the fans really resonated with it. And they\u2019re still coming up with theories and what it all means. And that\u2019s exactly what we wanted to do with it.\u201d<\/p>

Housemarque CEO Ilari Kuittinen echoes those Sony-based sentiments later on, when he\u2019s asked for thoughts on Returnal\u2019s positioning as one of the flagship titles on Sony\u2019s soon-to-relaunch PlayStation Plus<\/a> subscription service.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Sony management does do some wise decisions at some points,\u201d Kuittinen says with a laugh, literally looking over his shoulder to some suited men behind him. \u201cLike, you know, funding this game \u2013 they started to fund this game five years ago, so they took a leap of faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

With plenty of questions left unanswered by Returnal and Selene\u2019s story arguably unfinished, again, we can\u2019t help but wonder if Returnal 2 could be on the docket for Housemarque. Having spent five years working on this game, do the team from Housemarque know yet what they\u2019ll be spending the next five years on?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have banned me to say it,\u201d Kuittinen says, to much laughter from the room. And Korhonen adds: \u201cThere\u2019s trained snipers on him right now.\u201d And with that, we leave the Returnal team to their torille, eager to see what they offer up next.<\/p>\n

Of course, we\u2019d love to see Returnal 2, but we\u2019d also be happy receiving a fresh idea from this highly imaginative team instead. A VentureBeat<\/a> report from the DICE Awards quotes Kuittinen as saying last month: \u201cIt\u2019s early days with us starting a new game, a new IP, concepting it out. We\u2019ll see what comes with that.\u201d Watch this space, then!<\/p>\n