TITAN1STUDIOS' LOVE IS A ROGUELITE (or LIAR for short) WINS "BEST PITCH at MIGS"

MONTREAL, QC (October 31, 2024) – Titan1Studios is thrilled to announce that its tactical turn-based deck-builder, Love is a Roguelite, has won the prestigious "Best Pitch at MIGS" competition, presented by famed games industry consultant and investor Jason Della Rocca, at the Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS).

The winning pitch was delivered on the main stage at Bonsecours Market in historic Old Montreal by Titan1Studios Producer and Designer Evelyn Weech to an audience of over 150 people. LIAR captivated the esteemed panel of judges, which included Matthew Handrahan (Senior Portfolio Manager at Kepler Interactive/Kowloon Nights), Chloe Ghusti (Publisher and Developer Relations at ID@XBOX), and K.A. Pedersen (Head Scout at Fireshine Games), with its innovative blend of gameplay, AI-driven emotional model, and procedurally generated Love Story.

"Winning 'Best Pitch at MIGS' is an incredible honour and testament to the hard work and dedication of our team," said Rathan Moorthy, President & CEO of Titan1Studios. "We're grateful to Jason Della Rocca, the judges, and MIGS for this recognition and for providing such a valuable platform for indie developers like us."

"LIAR immediately stood out with its unique premise and innovative gameplay mechanics," said Jason Della Rocca. "The team at Titan1Studios demonstrated a clear understanding of their target audience and a strong vision for their game, making them a deserving winner of this year's competition."

Titan1Studios was one of two Southern Alberta studios represented in the finals, showcasing the region's growing stature in game development. The full list of finalists included:

  • Love is a Roguelite (or LIAR for Short) by Titan1Studios (Southern Alberta & Ontario)

  • BASILISK! by Galactic Glow Software (British Columbia)

  • Everstorm by Thousand Hour Games (Southern Alberta)

  • Homeward by Mahogany Interactive (Quebec)

  • Planetary Engine by City From Naught (Ontario)

About Love is a Roguelite (or LIAR for Short)

LIAR is a tactical turn-based deck-builder where players navigate the complexities of love and relationships. The game masterfully blends familiar genre tropes with unique and innovative mechanics to create a truly captivating experience. Imagine XCOM meets 50 First Dates with the storytelling depth of HADES, all wrapped in a charming art style.

At the heart of LIAR lies LOVESYNC, a proprietary emotional model that imbues your AI companion with their own dynamic emotions, opinions, and moral compass. They react authentically to your choices and the unfolding narrative, creating an unpredictable and engaging experience where relationships truly matter. These emotions influence everything from combat tactics to dialogue options, ensuring no two playthroughs are ever the same.

The team at Titan1Studios has dedicated over two years to refining LIAR's intricate systems and gameplay, ensuring a polished and engaging prototype experience. This dedication, combined with the game's unique features, helped LIAR stand out from the competition. 

In addition to securing Canada Media Fund (CMF) support and participating in the 2024 Ubisoft Indie Series presented by National Bank, winning "Best Pitch at MIGS" further validates the team's vision and the game's potential.

Learn more about LIAR at LOVEISAROGUELITE.COM


About Titan1Studios

Founded in 2016, TITAN1STUDIOS is an award-winning Calgary-area and Toronto-based Cross-Media Content & Technology Studio specializing in Original IP. The studio embraces diversity and representation across all facets of the creative process, which is reflected in our executives, artists and technology talent.

While their stories span the far reaches of time and space, their themes often hit much closer to home with a key emphasis on family, identity, mental health, and building a better tomorrow. 

In Television, Titan1Studios boasts a diverse development slate, spanning genres from drama and comedy to adult animation and kids & family programming.  This includes an all-ages animated adaptation of the ZOMBEN comic series, produced in partnership with RIDEBACK Entertainment (known for "The Last Airbender" on Netflix and the "Lego Movie" franchise at Warner Brothers).

In Video Games, the studio has a rich slate of projects. EVENTS AT UNITY FARM, a fresh take on narrative rich open-world virtual reality, with magic combat, puzzle solving, and exploration, is now available on STEAM. Production is underway on LOVE IS A ROGUELITE (or LIAR for short), a turn-based action game set within a procedurally generated love story, slated for an early access release on Valentine’s Day in 2025. A video game based on the Welcome Animated series titled WELCOME: A COZY ESTUARY is currently in production.

Learn more at TITAN1STUDIOS.COM

About MIGS

The Montreal International Game Summit is one of Canada's largest gaming events, connecting industry professionals, developers, and gamers alike. Hosted by La Guilde du jeu vidéo du Québec and organized by XP Gaming, MIGS provides a platform for knowledge sharing, networking, and showcasing the best of the Canadian and global gaming industry. The "Best Pitch at MIGS" competition specifically offers independent developers a valuable opportunity to present their games to publishers, investors, and the media.

Learn more at MIGS.BIZ

TITAN1STUDIOS’ EVENTS AT UNITY FARM ENTERS EARLY ACCESS

The Story-Rich, Dark Fantasy, Action, Adventure, and Magic Combat PCVR game launches on Steam on September 23rd, 2023.

Titan1Studios, has announced that their debut video game, a Story-Rich, Dark Fantasy, Action, Adventure and Magic Combat PCVR title, the EVENTS AT UNITY FARM, will enter Early Access on Steam on September 23rd, 2023.  The game’s demo which first launched during Steam Next Fest in February has received over 18,500 activations on the platform and is currently in development for PlaystationVR2®.

In the EVENTS AT UNITY FARM, players must prevent the Multipocalypse by solving the mystery of what happened to a ghost girl named Alliss.  By using an ancestral journal that empowers physical magic casting, solving unique puzzles, and gathering materials to improve their skills, players will experience a fresh-take on Open-World VR that combines survival and RPG elements with shooter-style spell combat and pits you against a variety of souls-like creatures and persistent enemies in an ever-expanding story universe. 

The game mixes the best of Lovecraftian Horror and Fantasy with a dash of Steampunk, inspired by classic 1990’s point and click adventure and RPG games from publishers such as Sierra Online, Origin Systems and LuscasArts.

Ruth Bowie, the game’s unlikely hero, is a shy BIPOC teen from a matrilineal line of occult scientists that she only comes to learn of after arriving at Unity Farm.  It’s her grandmother who sends her back in time to prevent the Multipocalypse and her great-grandmother’s journal she must learn to wield to defeat the hordes of creatures from myth, legend, technology and human experimentation gone wrong.

The decision to enter Early Access was a strategic one, driven by the studios’ commitment to delivering an exceptional gaming experience while involving the passionate community in shaping the game's future.  After years of development and after receiving both player and content creator feedback through various phases of production; Closed Beta to Demo, moving to Early Access will provide the additional opportunity for the development team to engage in more broad community-based development.

Virtual Reality Adventurers who are familiar with the demo will be treated to hours of new content in Early Access including: an updated combat system with spell shooting combinations, an XP system with skill upgrades, potion crafting, lore, unlocked locations, new puzzles, and a new boss battle, all with improved and optimized visuals.  Early Access will also include a first look at the game’s thrilling Arena (Horde) Mode which will introduce the fictional Western town of Rockslide and test the limits of player’s spell casting ability.

What’s in Early Access vs Final Release?

EARLY ACCESS

  • Story Content - 3-4 hours

  • Boss Battles - 2

  • Mini-Boss Types - 2 

  • Spells and Combos - 3 spells and 6 spell combinations

  • Locations - 6

  • Arena Mode - 1 Act with 5 waves and 1 Boss Battle

FINAL RELEASE 

  • Story Content - 10-12 hours

  • Final Boss Battle - 1

  • Boss Battles – 4

  • Mini-Boss Types - 8

  • Spells and Combos - 4 spells and 10 spell combinations

  • Locations - 7 + 5 Shrines

  • Arena Mode - 3 Acts with 5 waves each and 3 Boss Battles

Steam users who purchase the game during Early Access will have access to all future content updates, improvements, and expansions without any additional cost.

To commemorate the launch of Early Access, Titan1Studios will also release a series of poster images featuring creatures from the game.  Pictured earlier, the Ghost Witch, a creature based on the Skadegamutc from Indigenous folklore, will be accompanied by The Risen, the game’s iconic Portal Creature, The Risen Brute, and The Lady of Straw.

Released weekly on socials and at select Location-based entertainment centers around North America, the posters will promote Early Access and Steam Scream: Revenge participation from October 26th – November 1st, 2023.

The game marks the beginning of a new era for Titan1Studios, as it takes its IP from Comics to Gaming.  The Multipocalypse, which originated in the hit ZOMBEN comic series, is a result of cataclysm on multiple Earths that results in three unique apocalyptic events from three separate Earths all occurring at once.

Staying close to its graphic novel roots, the studio has created a unique visual style for the game’s Cinematics moments by utilizing a set of tools to illustrate and animate them in virtual reality. The result marries the traditional comic book look with animatic style animation and a haunting yet hopeful musical score.

Titan1Studios prides itself on inclusive storytelling and that is evident with this game. At present, only a handful of virtual reality video games feature BIPOC characters, let alone leads. The EVENTS AT UNITY FARM leans into the opportunity to subvert the horror genre and deliver a rich narrative that is diverse, cultural, and 2SLGBTQIA+.

About TITAN1STUDIOS

Founded in 2016, TITAN1STUDIOS is an award-winning Cross-Media Content & Technology Studio specializing in Original IP.  The studio embraces diversity and representation across all facets of the creative process, which is reflected in our executives, artists and technology talent.

While our stories span the far reaches of time and space, our themes often hit much closer to home with a key emphasis on family, identity, mental health, and building a better tomorrow.

Our initial wave of comics and graphic novels included the KNIGHT GUARDIANS OF RELATIVITY and the all-ages hit ZOMBEN, properties that served as a bedrock of two separate and distinct universes: the Relativity Universe and the Multipocalypse Universe.

In TV, the company has an eclectic slate that includes an all-ages animated adaptation of ZOMBEN, a live action take on the successful YA novel series THE COSEEMA SAGA, and an young adult drama inspired by the EVENTS AT UNITY FARM video game. Titan1Studios also recently launched a new animation studio, Missing Socks Entertainment, based out of Calgary, with a slate of adult animation titles including MODERN ROGUE based on the hit YouTube channel, a medieval workplace comedy entitled DRAGONS & WARTS, and WTF! WRESTLING THE FEDERATION from creators Kanja Chen (Fraggle Rock) and Atul Rao (Deepa & Anoop, Ghee Happy). 

In Video Games, the studio has a variety of projects in production. EVENTS AT UNITY FARM, a fresh take on open-world virtual reality, with magic shooting combat, puzzle solving, exploration, and a rich narrative, is in the late stages of production with a scheduled release in October 2023 on PCVR platforms.  Also, production is underway on LOVE IS A ROUGELITE, a turn-based action game set within a procedurally generated love story, slated for release on Valentine’s Day in 2025.

AUDIO DRAMA "ANDIES" LANDS AT TITAN1STUDIOS

The narrative podcast will be adapted by PAGE Award winning writer Mehul Desai from his feature screenplay of the same name.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canadian outfit Titan1Studios is proud to announce their first foray into the audio drama arena with ANDIES from writer Mehul Desai. The project, which originated as a feature screenplay from the PAGE Award winning scribe, will now be developed for the podcast space with an eye towards IP incubation and cross-media expansion.

The series, which is available for preview now, follows a migrant worker stranded on a deep space cargo freighter. After an accident unearths a mysterious woman from a secret vault deep within the bowels of the ship, the pair begin to fall in love, only to discover the woman is a defective pleasure android with one purpose. To ensure that her partner is always happy and never leaves.

Taking less influence from WESTWORLD and more from BLACK MIRROR, ANDIES is not a story about robots becoming self-aware and taking over the world, but rather a story about the people that would be most affected by their existence. Namely the poor and the working class. It explores a dark and chilling fate that could befall much of the human race through the eyes of one man marooned in Hell whilst tempted by Heaven.

“From the first time I read Mehul’s feature screenplay for ANDIES, I’ve found myself taken by his blunt and often unsettling vision of humanity’s future” said Titan1Studios VP Content Wes Ambrecht. “Given the ongoing conversations about AI both in Canada and abroad, this story felt especially prescient, but we wanted to ensure we found the right entry point for such a rich world, and I think the audio drama space provides that.”

“ANDIES began as an almost tongue and cheek B-movie concept, "CastAway with fembots", however in developing the project it became more and more apparent that there was much more under the surface, particularly with the rise of AI and ChatGPT” added Desai. “Although exploring a number of issues, from wealth inequality and corporate greed to social isolation and artificial companionship, ANDIES remains a tense claustrophobic action thriller in the tradition of Alien, as well as an unsettling descent into madness in the vein of The Shining.”

Desai will Executive Produce the series alongside Ambrecht and Titan1Studios CEO Rathan Morthy. All six episodes of the drama, which is currently in pre-production, have already been written.

About TITAN1STUDIOS

Founded in 2016, TITAN1STUDIOS is an award-winning Cross-Media Content & Technology Studio specializing in Original IP.  The studio embraces diversity and representation across all facets of the creative process, which is reflected in our executives, artists and technology talent.

While our stories span the far reaches of time and space, our themes often hit much closer to home with a key emphasis on family, identity, mental health, and building a better tomorrow. 

Our initial wave of comics and graphic novels included the KNIGHT GUARDIANS OF RELATIVITY and the all-ages hit ZOMBEN, properties that served as a bedrock of two separate and distinct universes: the Relativity Universe and the Multipocalypse Universe. 

In TV, the company has an eclectic slate that includes an all-ages animated adaptation of ZOMBEN, a live action take on the successful YA novel series THE COSEEMA SAGA, and an adult drama inspired by the upcoming EVENTS AT UNITY FARM video game. Titan1Studios also recently launched a new animation outfit, Missing Socks Entertainment, based out of Calgary, with a slate of adult animation titles including MODERN ROGUE based on the hit YouTube channel, a medieval workplace comedy entitled DRAGONS & WARTS, and WTF! WRESTLING THE FEDERATION from creators Kanja Chen (Fraggle Rock) and Atul Rao (Deepa & Anoop, Ghee Happy).  

In Video Games, the studio has a variety of projects in production. EVENTS AT UNITY FARM, a fresh take on open-world virtual reality, with magic shooting combat, puzzle solving, exploration, and a rich narrative, is in the late stages of production with a scheduled release in October 2023 on all major VR platforms.  Also, production is underway on LOVE IS A ROUGELITE, a turn-based action game set within a procedurally generated love story, slated for release on Valentine’s Day in 2024.

MEDICAL DRAMA ‘PACIFIC GENERAL’ IN THE WORKS AT TITAN1STUDIOS

Ken Kabatoff and Christopher Nash created the series about a diverse group of doctors and nurses navigating the daily challenges of life, death, and medicine in the underfunded halls of a Vancouver hospital.

Click here to read PLAYBACK’s coverage of this story.

Cross-media outfit Titan1Studios, who earlier this year entered the procedural arena with Playback Top 10 to watch writer Abdul Malik and his global climate catastrophe drama BREAKING POINT, is looking closer to home for their next offering. The studio announced today that they have begun development on a Vancouver-based medical drama titled PACIFIC GENERAL.

Created by TRAVELERS veteran Ken Kabatoff and his writing partner, independent filmmaker Christopher Nash, PACIFIC GENERAL is a modern ER drama for a Canadian audience. It highlights the resiliency of the human spirit amidst the complexities of Canada’s universal healthcare system by following a diverse group of doctors and nurses charged with the difficult task of opening a new hospital in Vancouver’s lower east side.

The series will be Executive Produced by Kabatoff & Nash alongside Titan1Studios CEO Rathan Moorthy and VP Content Wes Ambrecht.

“We are delighted to be in business with Kabatoff and Nash, a dynamic writing team that share our sensibilities and passion for storytelling,” said Moorthy. “Pacific General will examine the real dichotomy of societies that exists in Vancouver’s east end, a community replete with both opulence and homelessness, explored through the lens of Universal Healthcare.”

“We are thrilled to be developing Pacific General with Titan1Studios. Rathan and Wes are dynamic and supportive partners who understand the gravity of our national healthcare crisis and how the stories in Pacific General speak to each and every Canadian” added Kabatoff & Nash. “The healthcare system is a constant source of fear and hope for all of us. Pacific General sheds light on the challenges burdening our current system, like underfunded hospitals and doctor and nurse shortages, but it also presents a glimpse of its true potential—if we simply cared for one another a little bit more.”

High school friends in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Kabatoff & Nash first bonded over their shared love for filmmaking. Their paths have diverged over the years with Kabatoff achieving recognition as a writer and co-producer on the critically acclaimed Netflix series TRAVELERS and Nash working across academia and no-budget filmmaking to accumulate over 16 million views on Youtube for his projects. They formally re-teamed amidst the pandemic.

About TITAN1STUDIOS

Founded in 2016, TITAN1STUDIOS is an award-winning Cross-Media Content & Technology Studio specializing in Original IP. The studio embraces diversity and representation across all facets of the creative process, which is reflected in our executives, artists and technology talent.

While our stories span the far reaches of time and space, our themes often hit much closer to home with a key emphasis on family, identity, mental health, and building a better tomorrow.

Our initial wave of comics and graphic novels included the KNIGHT GUARDIANS OF RELATIVITY and the all-ages hit ZOMBEN, properties that served as a bedrock of two separate and distinct universes: the Relativity Universe and the Multipocalypse Universe.

In TV, the company has an eclectic slate that includes an all-ages animated adaptation of ZOMBEN, a live action take on the successful YA novel series THE COSEEMA SAGA, and an adult drama inspired by the upcoming EVENTS AT UNITY FARM video game. Titan1Studios also recently launched a new animation outfit, Missing Socks Entertainment, based out of Calgary, with a slate of adult animation titles including MODERN ROGUE based on the hit YouTube channel, a medieval workplace comedy entitled DRAGONS & WARTS, and WTF! WRESTLING THE FEDERATION from creators Kanja Chen (Fraggle Rock) and Atul Rao (Deepa & Anoop, Ghee Happy).

In Video Games, the studio has a variety of projects in production. EVENTS AT UNITY FARM, a fresh take on open-world virtual reality, with magic shooting combat, puzzle solving, exploration, and a rich narrative, is in the late stages of production with a scheduled release in October 2023 on all major VR platforms. Also, production is underway on LOVE IS A ROUGELITE, a turn-based action game set within a procedurally generated love story, slated for release on Valentine’s Day in 2024.