Interior/Night's Caroline Marchal on setting up her inclusive studio after leaving Quantic Dream

“Diversity is not just a token, it’s just interesting to have different people coming from different cultural backgrounds, professional backgrounds, and countries,” says former Quantic Dream developer Caroline Marchal.

“You’ve got people with different points of views coming at the story and at the experience and being like, ‘what do you think about that? How about we do that like this?’ It just improves what we’re making.”

Marchal is the CEO and creative director of Interior/Night, a new London-based studio creating Xbox exclusive As Dusk Falls as its first game.

Xbox Games – Announce Trailer – Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase 2022 Watch on YouTubeAs Dusk Falls – Xbox Games Announce Trailer

She’s known for her work at Quantic Dream as lead game designer on Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls. As Dusk Falls is a similarly narrative-driven game.

But following her time at Quantic Dream, she decided to set up her own studio with diversity and authenticity at its heart.

“I was in the industry for 15+ years, I was pregnant with my second child and thought it’s now or never,” she says. “I want to work with people I love and respect and work on this game specifically, so I took the chance.”

Marchal is joined at Interior/Night by Charu Desodt as production director, whose previous work includes Sony’s Singstar franchise.

“I loved the clarity of vision,” says Desodt of Marchal. “And having a creative director who has that clarity of vision is like gold dust. She was so clear about what we’re making, and why we’re making it and who we’re appealing to.”

Desodt is equally as passionate about developing a multicultural, diverse studio.

“I think authenticity is, for me, a real pillar of the studio, and the games we make,” she says. “And one leads into the other as well: when you have people who are authentic to life, you have a whole diversity within the workforce.”

And that extends to the game’s cast too, “to make sure that lived experience really comes through in their portrayal of the character,” says Desodt.

I asked Marchal what she learned from Quantic Dream that influenced Interior/Night.

“I would say two key things: not making games as a marathon. You have to be strong-willed and determined and passionate to see it through,” she says.

“Every game counts, you won’t be making 25 games in your career. So every game counts, make them as good as you can.

“The second thing is creativity first. None of us here in the studio are here to rehash things that have been done before. We’re really trying to push the boundaries at every level of what a narrative game can be. And what audience it could attract.”

As Dusk Falls is a narrative game, but it’s influenced by prestige TV as much as games. Further, it’s something of a social experiment with a focus on multiplayer – Twitch Plays Pokémon was cited, surprisingly, as an influence.

The plot – a crime drama – follows two families whose worlds collide, touching on mature themes of legacy, family, and resilience. In gameplay terms, it’s part Heavy Rain and part Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, but with up to eight players making decisions together using a mobile phone app or a controller.