Matthew McConaughey's interstellar role helped him understand Exodus' Big Hook.

Matthew McConaughey is starring movement It's always going to be one of the easiest things to point out about the game. Archetype Entertainment has barely been able to say anything about its upcoming sci-fi RPG, and the fact that McConaughey is playing the mysterious CC Orlev may still be enough to pique your interest. But the more Archetype talks about something, the more meaningful his involvement becomes. movement It's actually a drug.

GameRant recently attended the Future Games Show showcase briefing hosted by Archetype Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast to talk about some of the inspiration behind it. movementand interstellar Since the game used time dilation as a core mechanic, it came naturally. Clearly, the connection with McConaughey clicked immediately. interstellar It provided an easy way to understand what Archetype was trying to do. movement. Considering how much the game is built around travelers returning after years, even decades, of leaving home, it's hard to imagine a more tangible connection between the actor and the game.

Exodus' time dilation loop clearly has interstellar connections

interstellar This is undoubtedly the movie most people think of when the concept of time dilation comes up. The Miller's Planet sequence is the easiest example, as Cooper, Brand, and Doyle are only on the planet for a short time, but Romilly waits over 20 years for them to return to the ship. The waves are an immediate danger, but the scene becomes much more powerful when they return and realize how much time has passed. And later, when Cooper looks at years of messages from his children all at once, he understands the point even better. in interstellarTime is presented as something that people lose and can never get back.

That's what happens in the end. movement'The use of time dilation is very convincing. Although the game does a lot with time travel, alternate timelines, and choices that affect the future. movement It looks like you're doing something a little different than the idea. Travelers can leave home on a mission and return years, even decades later, so the act of leaving before anything happens feels important. For a choice-driven RPG, this has great appeal. movement game director Chris King; interstellar It was one of the clearest benchmarks for how powerful the idea was.

Interstellar is perhaps the most notable example of time dilation in popular media. But we put our own interpretation on it. And that's what we love to do. It's about putting our spin on these kinds of things, taking the things we loved, taking the spirit of what made them exciting growing up and as adults as well, and putting it all together to create something fresh and new that evokes the same kinds of emotions we love in our favorite entertainment.

What makes all of this even more interesting? movementBut time dilation means players aren't just watching what's happening to other people on screen. In the movie, the audience feels the cost. interstellarcharacters, but the story is still just something they are witnessing. movementOn the other hand, there's an opportunity to make players feel some ownership over that cost, as they can send Jun out into the cluster and live with him for whatever time it takes while he's away. This may make the impact even stronger, as the years that pass by Lydon will be part of the journey they have chosen.

Of course, time dilation is also the reason Matthew McConaughey participated in the film. movement There is meaning beyond the obvious name recognition. in interstellarCooper (McConaughey) is a man who leaves home because he believes it's the only way to save it, and the cost of that decision is measured in the years he never gets back with his children. movement It's obviously telling its own story, but its basic emotional idea is closely aligned with what Archetype does with the Travelers, time dilation, and the people left behind in Lydon. According to Chad Robertson, Archetype's general manager, McConaughey saw the connection almost immediately.

We shared that Matthew McConaughey was in the game, but when we first spoke with him and the elements that bring about time dilation, he immediately understood why we were interested in working with him. So that was a really good connection that implemented that and helped us achieve that goal in the overall experience.

in other words, movementMcConaughey is more than just a famous name to attract attention. interstellar We've already put him at the center of the story. The catch is that going further into space means losing time with the people he's trying to save. movement It clicked for him so quickly. There's a lot about CC Orlev that Archetype hasn't revealed yet, but time dilation is at its heart. movementMcConaughey feels like a pretty natural fit.

Time dilation is at the heart of Exodus' choice-driven gameplay.

Player selection will always be a big part. movementEspecially with so many former BioWare developers involved. In a game like this, it's not enough to just let the player choose dialogue options or decide how to end a mission. Those choices should feel like they actually matter to the world, the characters, and the people Jun meets along the way. Exodus seems to use time dilation as one way to make this happen. Because the result of your decision may not wait just a few minutes later. They may be waiting for years or even decades. According to narrative lead Drew Karpyshyn:

We want to look at meta-level options for dealing with things like time dilation. It really helps bring impact into your home. It improves the choices you make. When we do the Exodus, we see things unfold over a longer period of time. This is why escape is such an important and big deal in our game. Right? This is why before you leave Egypt you really want to think about what will happen next. You want to make sure you’re ready. Because you're going to be gone for a long time, you want to make sure everything is in place, and sometimes you don't always know how long you'll be gone, so it could be years or even decades by the time you return, and things will definitely have changed. So, try to prepare and set up an emergency plan, hope things will be in place when you return, and you can see how things play out over time if you make the choices you make.

In fact, most choice-driven RPGs deal with outcomes on a much shorter timeline. A companion approves or disapproves, a quest changes direction, a character lives or dies, or a later conversation acknowledges what happened. movementBut we're working with a much longer time span, which gives Archetype the opportunity to make decisions that may feel like Jun takes years to settle into the world before seeing the consequences. It'll be interesting to see how far the game actually goes once it's released, but as far as RPG concepts go, this is one of the most interesting in recent memory.

McConaughey's involvement makes more sense the more time he spends talking about what Archetype is about. movement We are attempting time expansion. interstellar It helped popularize the idea by making it emotional. movement We're trying to take that same concept and put some of that into the player's hands. Whether it works will depend on how well Archetype plays out, but McConaughey is involved, there's a time dilation at the heart of the story, and there are choices made with consequences that may not be fully played out until years or decades later. movement There are some notable sci-fi movies.