Daedalic Entertainment has announced a video game adaptation of Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth.
The video game is going to mirror the 12th century conflict between the nobles and the peasants during a rampant famine. Gameplay details and screenshots are currently unavailable, although we know it’s being launched across PS4, Xbox One, PC, Mac, and iOS.
We do know the game will be an “adventure” game, and Ken Follett himself sounded off on the upcoming adaptation:
“I’m thrilled that The Pillars of the Earth – which is probably my most famous book – is going to be turned into a computer game by Daedalic, now part of the Lübbe organisation. I believe this will bring my work to the attention of a new generation of readers. I’ve been working with Bastei Lübbe, and with the Lübbe-family, for 35 years now. It has been a most congenial partnership, and a very successful one. So I’m very happy that our association is being continued in these exciting ways.”
Daedalic Entertainment CEO Carsten Fichtelmann expressed how delicately the adaptation must be handled, considering how beloved the original novel is:
“We are very aware of and feeling the responsibility that comes along with this project: The Pillars of the Earth is one of world literature’s most-read and best-selling books, and comes with a large and long-lasting base of millions of fans. To meet their high expectations of our game will be a tremendous challenge – but one we are very eager to face. Together with Bastei Lübbe and Ken Follett we determined that the genre of adventure games is the best and most suitable way to adapt and express the substantial depth of such a historical novel.”
Fichtelmann continued, describing how the adventure game would have to be essentially a playable work of literature:
“Adventure games are interactive literature, and we at Daedalic dedicated ourselves to the perfection of this genre’s playing experience. We are very happy and feel extremely honoured that our work is being acknowledged by one of the world’s best-selling authors, and to be allowed to take his work into interactivity.”
The Pillars of the Earth is set for a release some time in 2017.
