Cyan Worlds announced that original Myst co-creator Robyn Miller has formally joined the effort at Cyan Worlds to do a ground-up remake of Riven: The Sequel to Myst.
That means Robyn will reunite with his brother Rand Miller, CEO of Cyan Worlds, for the first time on the franchise since they co-created the groundbreaking PC game 27 years ago. They’re in the midst of remaking Riven as a modern game which they plan to deliver later this year. To date, sales for Myst and its sequel Riven have sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
Spokane, Washington-based Cyan Worlds was founded in 1987 by Robyn and Rand Miller. They started on Myst in 1991 and the creator of the original Myst, which came out in 1993. The game broke barriers in storytelling, visual fidelity of its art, and taking advantage of the new CD-ROM drives. And it became the best-selling game of the 20th century. (Here’s my story on the launch of Riven in 1997).
The brothers worked together on Riven, the sequel, with Richard Vander Wende, a special effectors creator, game maker and filmmaker. Vander Wende has also rejoined the effort to remake Riven. Robyn Miller, the original composer for Myst and Riven, is creating new music for the Riven remake. They’re working on brand new art in Unreal Engine 5.
The company released a track from the soundtrack today that is Part IV of a larger piece of music that contains four movements, and a first sneak peek is available right now on Cyan World’s social channels. More details regarding release platforms and availability for Riven’s soundtrack will be announced at a later date. Rand Miller said he hopes it will ship to consumers in 2024.
“Writing the music for Riven was a blast. I hope that fans like the additions,” said Robyn Miller, in a statement. “I attempted to evoke the sounds of the original soundtrack but I was writing for an environment that is unique and stands apart from the original Riven. This piece had to live up to that and, in a way, speak a different musical language.”
With Robyn Miller entering this new collaboration with the Cyan Worlds team —and Richard Vander Wende joining the team back in 2022 as game director for the remake— a unique opportunity presented itself to bring together the original creative team behind 1997’s Riven: The Sequel to Myst.
Rand Miller, Robyn Miller, and Richard Vander Wende will have a special roundtable conversation where the great minds behind the 1997 hit sit down and briefly discuss their approach to worldbuilding going from Myst to the original Riven, as well as the upcoming remake.
For the three-way talk at the roundtable, Rand Miller said, “That was kind of crazy. It was the first time we got together in person since Riven. A lot of fun.”
Rand Miller said that the team that built Riven had 40 people, while Cyan Worlds currently has around 30 now.
“We we kept pulling people in for Riven. We started out very small. And the Myst money kept flowing so we could keep hiring people and buying new servers to render the images and animations,” he said. “We have done Myst remakes. It always felt more experimental. This is the first time we have touched Riven at all. Riven was really special to us. We didn’t want to touch it until we felt like we really could do it justice.”
The birth of a remake
Cyan Worlds tackled a new game dubbed Firmament. As they pulled that off in real-time 3D and virtual reality, they felt pretty good about being about to pull off Riven and do it justice, Rand Miller said.
Rand Miller said the conversation around Riven started five years ago. They talked on Zoom calls and hashed out what they would do. Riven never really had a remake. The game appeared on mobile devices, but it was the original game with no changes. The team didn’t re-render any images.
The original Riven moved somewhat slowly, allowing you to move from one scene to another, but not really do much interaction with that scene. It was pretty impressive for the time, but it looks primitive by today’s gaming standards.
This one will have all-new art running in a real-time game engine, Unreal Engine 5. They started the work about three years ago, and Vander Wende agreed to be the lead game designer.
“In those early calls, we started thinking that we had the luxury of being the original creators. We could critique it and decide to change things and fix things that felt were little tiny flaws that we should fix or address. And so once we started discussing those, we felt free to make a few changes,” Rand Miller said.
Robyn Miller came in first as a creative consultant.
“Because Robin is an idea guy, he has amazing ideas and he’s not stuck in any ruts. His doors are wide open, and he’s excited to go. Okay, what if we do this? What if we do that? And then Richard is much more about building the realistic world out of those things,” Rand Miller said. “Then Robyn moved on to considering additional music for some new areas.”
Rand Miller said that Vander Wende was instrumental in the original Riven as the game director. He thought Vander Wende of having the job of “reloading the whole game in his head.”
The company is self-funding and self-publishing most of it, but Rand Miller said the company has had some partners over time.
The new game
Riven is a modern remake of 1997’s monster hit Riven: The Sequel to Myst, and a love letter to the classic narrative-driven puzzle games of the ‘90s.
When exploring the decaying age of Riven, Cyan Worlds wants the player to feel like an archeologist, slowly unraveling the many mysteries of the D’ni and Rivenese mythologies.
Through careful exploration of Riven’s five enigmatic islands, players will uncover clues, decipher foreign languages, and immerse themselves in the game’s intricate lore. Riven encourages players to lose themselves in its world and find solutions to the game’s puzzles through careful and profound reflection, examination, and contemplation of the environment.
Leveraging modern-day technology and the power of Unreal Engine 5, Cyan Worlds aims to recreate and expand on its vision for Riven with development focused on delivering native experiences on both flatscreen and VR platforms.
The game will offer a new level of immersion, allowing players to feel part of the enigmatic D’ni Empire while exploring the decaying age of Riven. With new puzzles, expanded storylines, and breathtaking visuals, even those who know the original by heart will find themselves lost again in its depths.
Key features
Intricate storytelling and mind-bending puzzles: Challenge your intellect with Riven’s cunning puzzles woven throughout its narrative.
Immersive environments and stunning graphics: Explore surreal islands, each meticulously crafted with unparalleled attention to detail, from dense, lush jungles to awe-inspiring caverns.
An expanded world to explore: Encounter an immersive and visually stunning world that will captivate newcomers and reveal new mysteries for long-time fans.
Fully re-imagined gaming experience: Experience Riven like never before, with free movement through a real-time 3D environment. Whether you’re a seasoned adventurer returning to Riven or a newcomer eager to explore Riven’s mysteries for the first time, this immersive and visually stunning world will captivate you.
Truly immersive experience: Developed in parallel for flatscreen and VR: Cyan Worlds is simultaneously developing the flatscreen and VR versions of the game to ensure a high-quality experience regardless of players’ platform of choice.
The game is launching simultaneously on flatscreen and VR platforms later this year.
The original goal of Riven was to create a new kind of experience that felt more like a place than a game. There would be no dying, no shooting, no starting over, and no inventory – dramatic breaks from “traditional” gaming. Myst was about finding yourself lost in a world, exploring it to gain understanding, and ultimately becoming part of the story. The public response was nothing short of phenomenal.
Myst holds the honor of being the best-selling video game of the 20th century; a record that was not surpassed until 2003. After Riven, Robyn Miller left Cyan to work on music and film, while Rand Miller stayed to run the company and make new games.
After five games in the Myst series, Cyan turned its attention to making an exciting new kind of Myst world. Uru (Myst Online) allows players to join the adventure of a lifetime in the caverns of D’ni, a neverending world that lets players connect and explore together. It spawned a thriving community and is still available to explore for free. More recently, Cyan Worlds has created titles supporting 2D and VR gameplay, including Obduction, Firmament, and a remake of Myst for 2D and VR.
Cyan Worlds looks forward to releasing the new games currently in development, as well as revealing new, exciting worlds yet to come. They draw from over three decades of experience to tell stories in intriguing and unexpected ways and continue to look for innovative ways to subvert standard videogame tropes.
“The most fun part about this is about how many people get a chance to revisit their work that’s actually one of their most loved works and take a critical eye at it. And try and realize the things that, if they’d had more time originally, they might have cleaned up a little more,” he said. “We’re trying to get this perfect balance, where if you played Riven, you start up and it’s a similar feeling. You end up on on the island, the cage goes up, just like it did in the original. The guy comes across. The opening is the same.”
But then it all looks different.
Rand Miller said that playtesters have had a look at it and their reaction has been great.
“We get to ask questions like ‘Why? Why is it like that?’ And Riven is a game where we get to answer those questions. Why did this change? Why is everything different? There’s a reason for that.”