Mike Bithell Talks About Making Choices That Matter In Tron: Identity
Mike Bithell, founder and creative director of Bithell Games, still can’t believe his studio is working with Disney on Tron: Identity. “How does that even happen?” he says during our post-reveal interview. It may seem like a strange fit, considering the kind of small, cerebral games Bithell is known for. Throughout his catalog of games, which includes Subsurface Circular, The Solitaire Conspiracy, and Thomas Was Alone, the studio has only developed one licensed game, John Wick Hex. Bithell jokes that perhaps Disney was simply attracted to the bright lights. “I think they looked at what we’ve made in the past and saw a lot of bloom and they were like ‘Oh, you like glowy things, let’s get you to do that.”
Of course, fans of both Tron and Bithell Games will immediately recognize how well they fit together. “Our stories have often revolved around science-fiction and choice-based narrative stuff,” he says. I think they saw those aspects and were interested in working with us in the Tron world.”
Disney approached Bithell specifically for Tron and asked what he would do with the IP, and he immediately had a sense of what that game would look like. “The immediate thing [that came to mind] was Subsurface Circular, but taking it to that next level. That kind of choice-based and character-led story stuff just felt like something I wanted to see a Tron game do.” Bithell and his team were inspired by the rich mythology and deep world-building in the Tron movies. “That was the stuff that got us excited,” he says.
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The reveal trailer for Tron: Identity doesn’t give us much to go on, but Bithell says games like Subsurface Circular,
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