‘The Witness’ trailer & ‘Game Dev Camp’

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As some of you know, my full time job is on The Witness as a senior artist. I’ve been working with Jonathan blow for over 4 years now and it has been a very unique experience.

A few days ago we announced the release date for the game with a new trailer, and all my energy was focused in getting it done. I spent the last weeks shooting tons of footage in 4k@60fps, trying different camera angles and figuring out the best narrative and music and assembling it all in After Effects, hoping that it would reflect the themes of the game.
It was a very iterative and intensive work, but a great break from modelling and bugfixing, and I’m happy to share the final result:

In the middle of this, I was also invited to a videogame conference in Portugal called “Game Dev Camp”. This was an important event for me and an opportunity to go back home for a few days.

The game industry in Portugal has evolved a lot since I left 10 years ago. It’s more mature and both developers as well as investors are broadening their horizons and realizing that quality means a focus on game design and mechanics. It’s still early days, and it will be a long journey but I can see it’s heading to the right place.

While I was there, I gave a talk about game design, sharing what I’ve learned from my experience at Rockstar Games, Ubisoft as Art Director and now with Jonathan on The Witness and how I applied all this to Twelve Minutes.
I explain how it shaped some of my design decisions , like having the whole game in an apartment or the click-and-drag UI.
The talk is 25min and available for free online: