Modern Storyteller
- Open roles
- 0
- Founded
- 2016
- Employees
- 1-10
- Offices
- 1
About Modern Storyteller
Modern Storyteller is an independent video game development studio based in Melbourne, Australia, specializing in narrative-driven adventures and role-playing games. It develops its own intellectual property, with a focus on interactive storytelling, branching dialogue, moral choices and non-linear mysteries. Its work combines exploration and deduction with stories shaped by players' decisions.
The studio originated in 2012 as the solo modding pseudonym of Australian lawyer and arbitrator Nick Pearce. Working nights and weekends over three years, Pearce created The Forgotten City, a murder-mystery modification for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The project attracted millions of downloads and provided the foundation for his move into professional game development. Pearce subsequently left his legal career, incorporated the company in December 2016 and assembled its core development team in 2017.
From mod to standalone adventure
Modern Storyteller spent four and a half years transforming The Forgotten City into a standalone commercial game. The redevelopment moved the story into an ancient Roman underground city governed by the mythological Golden Rule. Its time-loop structure connects investigation, dialogue and deduction puzzles, allowing players to uncover the mystery through successive encounters with the city and its inhabitants.
The standalone game launched on July 28, 2021, reaching PC, PlayStation and Xbox platforms, with a cloud version available for Nintendo Switch. Rather than simply reproducing the original mod, the commercial release substantially expanded its narrative and rebuilt its setting for an independent production.
The studio's capabilities include narrative design, programming, 3D environment art and historical reconstruction. Its development model brings together a small core team and specialist collaborators for disciplines such as historical consulting, voice performance and music. Following the release of The Forgotten City, Modern Storyteller explored an unannounced fantasy open-world sandbox RPG, with recruitment indicating the direction of its next project.
More about Modern Storyteller
Leadership and team
- Nick Pearce is Managing Director and writer.
- Alex Goss is Technical Lead and programmer.
- John Eyre is Lead Artist.
Production and collaboration
The standalone game's script grew from approximately 35,000 words to more than 80,000. Production used Unreal Engine 4 and included professional voice acting and an orchestral soundtrack. Development received an Epic Games Unreal Dev Grant and Film Victoria support. Dear Villagers served as the third-party publishing partner.
Recognition
- The original The Forgotten City mod won the 2016 Australian Writers' Guild AWGIE Award for Interactive Media, becoming the first video game mod to win a national Australian Writers' Guild award.
- The standalone The Forgotten City won the 2021 Australian Game Developer Awards award for Excellence in Narrative.
- The standalone game received nominations for BAFTA's 2022 EE Game of the Year and Best Debut Game, the 2022 D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Story, and The Game Awards 2021 Debut Indie Game.
Notable credits
2 creditsOffices
Where Modern Storyteller is based
- Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Melbourne office
HeadquartersHeadquarters and core development hub, using a flexible and remote workflow across Victoria and Australia.
Open roles
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