At least, judging by the brevity of the “About Scavengers Studio” section in the press release it is. But look, a bunch of people put hard work into this game, and Season does sound extremely like my jam. You two-wheel your way through the world in an effort to capture memories of it before a cataclysm washes much of it away. At any point you can hop off your bike to capture things, be they images of buildings, videos of birds, or recordings of locals talking. That’s a very cool concept, and the art style is bloody lovely. Alas there is a small bit more context to the studio. When Season was revealed almost exactly two years ago at the 2020 Game Awards we all went “Oooh!”. Then a couple of months later GI.biz reported allegations of harassment levelled at former CEO and studio co-founder Simon Darveau. Darveau was suspended and the current CEO Amélie Lamarche stepped down while an investigation was carried out. The results of said investigation criticised the company’s poor communication, but ultimately resulted in Lamarche returning as CEO and Darveau being reinstated in “a smaller, non-managerial role, prototyping a research and development project.” That’s a troubled year to make a game in, though it seems like Darveau has been kept away from Season’s development since the news broke big. There have been a few stories over the years suggesting that, though working at a big studio can come with problems, indie darlings aren’t immune to issues. Season is not to be confused with other pretty road trip game Open Roads. In any case, season is out on January 31st, 2023, and will be on Steam and the Epic Games Store for $25. It’s $30 on PlayStation but in fairness on that you get to use them fancy controller triggers to pedal the bike, which is surely worth a fiver (other currencies tbc).
