The tiny Welsh game studio taking on Hollywood

Dr David Banner once worked on the original Tomb Raider as well as the first ever Grand Theft Auto.

Now, as co-founder of Wales Interactive, he is taking aim at Hollywood.

"We make movies, right?" he said.

"But we realised we can make films and sell them on a games platform, so we're bypassing Hollywood entirely."

Wales Interactive had a smash hit last year with Sker Ritual - a multiplayer co-op shooter that has been well received among streamers and critics, but the studio is best known for its interactive movies.

"Once we released a few things, and money was coming back, that gave us a bit of freedom to experiment and try stuff that other people haven't," he said.

Also known as Full Motion Video games (FMV) they have been around for decades.

"The X-Files game in particular was a really good one," said co-founder, Richard Pring.

"I really enjoyed that. But we just thought, why hasn't this genre ever picked up again since then? Why aren't more people doing it?"

One of the first, Dragon's Lair (1983), recently appeared in the '80s set TV show, Stranger Things.

But while they were once considered to be a relic of the past, Wales Interactive is bringing them back.

Interactive movies, also known as FMV games, allow players to control the story.

"It's a very, very fun way of telling good stories," said producer Sam Leigh.

"We use game mechanics to allow players to influence stories in a way that helps them feel part of that story."

Players make decisions within the game that will affect the story's outcome - branching storylines offering a very different experience each time you play.

"Part of the fun is playing it again. You watch an interactive movie again and you might try a different path, or 'I wonder what happens with this character instead' and you can explore those options.

"It's all about getting people to be part of that story."

FMVs offer a mix of live-action video with traditional gameplay that alters the storyline depending on your actions and choices, much like the old choose your own adventure books.

However, it is a bit more sophisticated than that.

"We might shoot hours of video that a single player never sees," said Leigh.

Sitting somewhere between a game developer and a movie studio, Wales Interactive has cornered the market when it comes to interactive movies.

"The TV and film industry is absolutely excellent in Wales," said Pring. "Anything from SuperTed to His Dark Materials and Doctor Who, so we thought - how can we make games and tap into that industry around us?"

Their first came in 2016 when Wales Interactive made The Bunker.

The game starred Adam Brown, one of the dwarves in The Hobbit, and it tells the story of the last living resident of a dilapidated wartime bunker.

"What we found when we were making it, was that writer/director Allan Plenderleith would come into the studio and cover the floor with all his papers and storyboards stuck together with post it notes and lines drawn between them," said Banner.

At the time, that was the best way for them to piece it all together.

"As games designers, we were thinking 'there's got to be a better way of doing this'."

These days, they use a custom framework to piece their FMVs together, allowing them to play through a prototype of the game before they have even filmed anything.

"By making one, you start to want to experiment and collaborate with more people," said Banner.

"Even though we can make stuff on our own, the films we can't - we're not filmmakers. So, we had to tap into the industry in Wales."

Acting as a developer and publisher, Wales Interactive began seeking out local creatives to work with, offering them the chance to write and direct their own interactive movies.

One of their most successful collaborations to date is Five Dates.

This innovative take on the genre is essentially a rom-com that plays out within a fictional dating app.

The player takes control of young, free and single Vinny, making decisions that will impact his love life.

"Me and Rich would never have designed a romantic comedy," said Banner.

"But sometimes, stuff just really falls into place," said Pring.

"With Five Dates, it was like 'why hasn't someone done this before?' That was really the question. Why hasn't somebody done this?"

Stepping away from cinematic storytelling, Five Dates instead tells its entire story within its fictional dating app.

And it all came about because of the pandemic.

"Lockdown hit and we were like 'oh great. Well, as a games company we're OK because we can make games from home, but filming wise? A little bit more tricky'," said Pring.

Figuring out how to work around lockdown restrictions led to the app-based gameplay, each actor was sent equipment to film their scenes in their own home.

The pandemic itself was even part of the story.

"They filmed it all on iPhones and it's one of our best received games," said Pring.

"It was conceptualised, designed, and released in 10 months, which is absolutely insane."

"The great thing about being an indie games developer is that we're resilient and we haven't got to wait," said Banner.

"It's about making what you can with what you've got. That's where we've really thrived."

The game was well received, with Wales Interactive picking up a nomination for Best Feature/TV Film at the 2023 BAFTA Cymru Awards.

"We want people to be as creative as possible and bring different stories," said Pring.

The result is an eclectic catalogue of interactive movies ranging from sci-fi epics, to rom-coms, horrors, and even the occasional comedy.

"That's why we've got such a diverse portfolio - we've worked with lots of different partners," said Banner.

"The team at Wales Interactive has been instrumental in putting Wales on the map when it comes to games development over the last few decades," said Richard Hebblewhite, director of Games Talent Wales.

"Some of their titles have effectively created a resurgence in popularity of the traditional FMV game, and helped introduce the genre to a new generation of players.

"The most astonishing thing is that they have managed all of this with a relatively small team of highly dedicated and passionate people."

Although Wales Interactive does not make hundreds of millions, the 15-person studio takes some creative big swings bigger studios will not.

"Wales Interactive's success has definitely allowed them to take bigger creative risks with their projects," said Richard Hurford, Research and Innovation Lead for Creative Industries at the University of South Wales.

"Working closely with writers and directors, Wales Interactive makes sure that their stories will translate into FMV. This allows story tellers to engage their audience in different ways and immerse them into the story more fully."