Little Big Adventure is being rebooted for the series' 30th anniversary
The two Little Big Adventure games are a curiosity of early 3D development, and both fit comfortably under the «cult classic» label. I got along well enough with these games back in the nineties as a nipper, but the series has a devoted following that will swear blind they're among the best games you'll ever play.
That claim is, not to put too fine of a point on it, probably less persuasive in 2022—the original came out in 1994, the sequel in 1997. They were visually impressive and far-reaching games at the time but 25 years of technological progress have happened since. Nevertheless the series' reputation has persisted, and last year Adeline Software co-founder Didier Chanfray announced plans to return with a third game in the series.
Those plans have changed and, while it may not seem like it now, probably for the better. The studio had previously ported Little Big Adventure to mobile, hoping that this would reignite some interest in the game. «It appeared very fast that no major publisher would be interested in LBA,» writes Chanfray. «The sad truth is that the community—while active and loyal—is too small to build a game release on. The financial risk is simply too big.»
Chanfray says that the studio was also aware of LBA fading into the background of cultural consciousness. «When Playstation exclusive Little Big Planet arrived—a much bigger IP with a larger audience and fame—'Little Big' became more and more associated with this IP instead of LBA [...] this makes marketing and publicity around LBA all the more challenging.»
All of this context means that, when Adeline Software was given some investment by a series fan in order to think about the future, the initial idea of soldiering on with the unmade third game
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