EA studio boss keen on Bullfrog remakes
Bright Light team to consider titles such as Populous and Theme Park for future reinvention
The boss of Electronic Arts' Bright Lights Studio in the UK has said that he would "love" to see classic Bullfrog IP remade for today's systems.
Harvey Elliot, vice president of the studio currently working on the latest Harry Potter game, told Kikizo that titles such as Populous and Theme Park are part of the developer's heritage following EA's acquisition of Bullfrog in 1995.
"For me, I love the old Bullfrog IP, it got me really passionately into games, and I'm really proud that Bullfrog is part of the heritage of Bright Light," said Elliot. "I'm personally a huge fan of Populous and Theme Park, they were some of my favourite games - many years ago, obviously - and I'd love to see both of those remade."
Harvey said that the studio is likely to look at the viability of recreating Bullfrog franchises in the future, but it's important to reassess classic IP realistically rather than through rose-tinted spectacles.
"The thing is, the romance of the idea is often detached from the reality of executing it. If you remember all the old classics you played, if you go back and play them now, they're not the same," he offered. "They were right for their time, and the trick with those games is coming up with what's right for the time now.
"I'm going to look at them at some point, I think there's an opportunity to bring those back in the future, but only if it's right for the time and not just a 'remake' or something. We'd need to do it in a way that's true to the original values, but would still make a great game today."
Other classic Bullfrog IP includes Powermonger and Magic Carpet. A new title in the Syndicate series is also in the works at The Chronicles of Riddick studio Starbreeze.