Bringing "The Most Powerful Pirate In History" To Life - The Pirate Queen: A Forgotten Legend Interview

screenrant.com:

is an upcoming VR adventure game inspired by the world's most successful pirate, a 19th century Chinese woman named Cheng Shih. The title comes from woman-led developer Singer Studios, which was founded by award-winning filmmaker Eloise Singer. Protagonist Shih is voiced by actress Lucy Liu, who also serves as a producer on the project.

aims to be a completely immersive VR experience, transporting the player to a historically accurate 1800s China full of environmental storytelling. After the loss of her husband, Cheng Shih is thrown into the role of pirate captain, eventually amassing the largest fleet in history. Players will solve puzzles, traverse detailed environments, and fight adversaries as they strive to become the fiercest pirate ever known. Though the full game doesn't currently have a set release date, early builds of the title won a Raindance Discovery Award in 2021 and a Tribeca Storyscapes Award in 2023.

interviewed studio founder and director of Eloise Singer to discuss working with Lucy Liu, bringing Cheng Shih's story to life, and the endless quest for historical accuracy.

Screen Rant: I'm curious how you first came across the real life story of this pirate queen; was sort of finding that story what came first, or did you already know you wanted to develop a game and then you came across her story and were like, «Wow, this is this is the one.»

Eloise Singer: Really good question, it definitely was story first. A friend of mine told me the story, she was like, «Have you ever heard that the most powerful pirate in history was a woman in 19th century China?» And I was like, «Hm, sounds not true. No it's not, don't be silly.» [Laughs] And she was like, «No, no, genuinely it is.» So we started looking into