Sea of Solitude: Director’s Cut

Quantic Dream should be nominated for its collaboration with Joi-Mei Games on its title Sea of Solitude: Director’s Cut, because of breaking new ground in narrative concepts in games through exploration of mental health. Sea of Solitude focuses on journeying through dangerous waters, both figuratively and literally. In the beginning, the game’s writer, creator and head of game design Cornelia Geppert started out by linking Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis to video games, to best understand the relationship between player and game. Going further, Cornelia strived to symbolize emotions she experienced in her own life, by imagining them as creatures in the game, and also implemented experiences of friends, colleagues and family into the game in a similar fashion. The story is directly connected to Cornelia’s own life and the struggles she faced through depression when a former relationship broke down around her during the game’s creation. The aim was to tell a realistic, powerful and positive story to the world by sharing the unique perspective her past gave her. The ultimate concept in Sea of Solitude: Director’s Cut is to provide a digital mirror to the real world we inhabit - themes often touched upon are self-doubt and love. As a result, the game has helped people overcome difficulties in their personal lives. One player related to Cornelia directly their decision to leave a difficult situation in their lives behind based on their experience playing Sea of Solitude: Director’s Cut. In summary, although video games have long been portrayed as a form of escapism, Quantic Dream’s latest title proves it does not always have to be this way, and today’s big gaming releases can present opportunities for players to gain self-awareness of life choices. IGN’s comment sums the game up by saying “Sea of Solitude does a good job tackling relatable situations that we don’t often see represented in games... it made us uncomfortable and anxious in the best possible way.”

Sea of Solitude has been previously nominated for and has won several awards including the Unity Awards in 2019 and the Games 4 Change Award in 2020.