The 2021 Tribeca Festival unveiled its Tribeca Games lineup featuring eight titles joining the Festival as Official Selections, a first-of-its-kind opportunity for multiple video games in a film festival format since Rockstar Games’ L.A. Noire became the first video game ever to be honored as Official Selection at the 2011 Festival.The titles will be in competition for the inaugural Tribeca Games Award, which honors an unreleased game for its potential for excellence in art and storytelling through design, artistic mastery and highly immersive worlds.
To celebrate the 10 years since video games became part of the Tribeca Festival, Rockstar Games will return with a special live outdoor performance in New York City’s The Battery, featuring Red Dead Redemption 2 Original Soundtrack producer, Daniel Lanois, his band and some very special guests performing versions of highlight songs from the evocative and emotional soundtrack of the latest blockbuster game, live in New York City for the first time. Set to take place at sunset in this iconic location, The Songs of Red Dead Redemption 2 will be a must-see performance.
Additionally, Tribeca Games programming will offer digital experiences as part of the Tribeca At Home virtual offerings. From June 11-20, Tribeca will invite game fans from around the world to be the first to experience playable hands-on digital demos, powered by Parsec’s remote interactive streaming technology, from emerging and established creators. Demo sessions may be reserved starting May 24 at www.tribecafilm.com/games.
What Makes VR and Immersion Storytelling So Special – By Mara Reinstein
In addition, the Tribeca Games Spotlight, an online showcase of this year’s Official Selections, will feature exclusive gameplay footage as part of the Summer Game Fest, a free, all-digital seasonal event streaming online. Fans from around the world will be able to tune in via Tribeca’s website, major streaming platforms, and summergamesfest.com.
“For over a decade, our mission has been to be a catalyst for placing games and their creators at the forefront of mainstream and artistic culture alongside film, TV and VR/AR,” said Tribeca Enterprises and Tribeca Festival Co-Founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal. “We continue to embrace the cross pollination and intersection of these storytellers with this year’s Tribeca Games Official Selections. And this is just the beginning.”
“This year’s selections showcase the potential for phenomenal storytelling in interactive experiences, with characters and worlds that explore the deep connection we have to ourselves and the world around us,” said Casey Baltes, Vice President of Tribeca Games. “From action/adventure to interactive thriller to intimate point and click narratives, these selections demonstrate a range of story and gameplay as well as visual style. We fell in love with the characters and the worlds that each game presented to us.”
Outdoor in-person Immersive installations will be located at various locations throughout NYC; these experiences are free and open to everyone throughout the Festival. Those available virtually can be accessed via the Tribeca Festival website.
The 2021 Tribeca Festival Games Official Selections are as follows:
Harold Halibut (World Premiere) – Germany
Developer and Publisher: Slow Bros.
Project Creators: Onat Hekimoglu, Ole Tillmann, Fabian Preuschoff, Daniel Beckmann
Key Collaborator: Ilja Burzev
Harold is a lab assistant to the ship’s lead scientist, who despite general fatigue aboard the retro-futurist vessel continues to look for a way back into space. While the stale day-to-day life under water grows more and more familiar, one day a fateful encounter plunges Harold into an unknown world.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (World Premiere) – United States
Developer and Publisher: Ember Lab
Project Creators: Josh Grier, Mike Grier
Key Collaborator: Hunter Schmidt
Kena, a novice Spirit Guide, uncovers an abandoned village. Wandering spirits, trapped between worlds, sow chaos and decay. With the help of tiny forest creatures called Rot and her knowledge of the Spirit Realm, Kena faces her own losses as she untangles the secrets of this forgotten community.
Lost in Random (World Premiere) – Sweden
Developer: Zoink Games
Publisher: EA Originals, Electronic Arts
Project Creator: Klaus Lyngeled
Key Collaborator: EA Partners Team
From the award-winning Swedish game studio, Zoink, play the odds in Lost in Random, a gothic fairytale-inspired action adventure where every citizen’s fate is determined by the roll of a dice. The player walks the Kingdom of Random’s mysterious cobbled streets, meets its unpredictable residents and takes on courageous quests.
Through fearsome battles with a unique blend of tactical combat, card collection, and explosive dice gameplay, they’ll quickly learn to adapt or perish as they battle inside giant board game arenas that change with every dice throw. Learn how to tip the odds and dive in a dark wonderland where only the brave survive. Play the odds. Win the game.
NORCO (World Premiere) – United States
Developer: Geography of Robots
Publisher: Raw Fury
Project Creator: Geography of Robots
Key Collaborator: fmAura
This sci-fi Southern Gothic adventure immerses players in the sinking suburbs and industrial swamps of Louisiana’s petrochemical hinterlands. The hero’s brother goes missing; in the hopes of finding him, players must follow a fugitive security cyborg through the refineries, strip malls, and drainage ditches of suburban New Orleans.
Sable (World Premiere) – United Kingdom
Developer: Shedworks
Publisher: Raw Fury
Project Creators: Gregorios Kythreotis, Daniel Fineberg
Key Collaborators: Japanese Breakfast, Martin Kvale
Join Sable on her gliding, a rite of passage that will take her across vast deserts and through landscapes littered with fallen spaceships. Explore the desert on a hoverbike, scale monumental ruins, and encounter other nomads in the wilds whiet unearthing mysteries long forgotten.
Signalis (World Premiere) – Germany
Developer: rose-engine
Publisher: Humble Games
Project Creator: Yuri Stern
Key Collaborator: Barbara Whitmann
Stranded on a desolate world, a lone Replika must explore the ruins of an abandoned reeducation facility in search for answers—and a way to escape. Solve puzzles, fight nightmarish creatures, and navigate through dystopian, surreal worlds as Elster, a technician Replika looking for a lost dream.
The Big Con (World Premiere) – Canada
Developer: Mighty Yell
Project Creator: Dave Proctor
Key Collaborator: Saffron Aurora
In classic 90s con movie style, the player gets to persuade and pilfer their way to greatness. Sneak around, wear disguises, pickpocket, solve puzzles, and maybe profit from the latest collectible plushie craze, and make a friend or two along the way.
Twelve Minutes (World Premiere) – United States
Developer: Luis Antonio
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Project Creator: Luis Antonio
A man’s romantic evening with his wife is interrupted by a violent home invasion. He tries to stop the attacker and gets knocked out only to find himself stuck in a time loop of 12 minutes. He must use the knowledge of what is about to happen to change the outcome and break the loop. Featuring James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and Willem Dafoe. ence. The viewer’s decisions will determine their chances for survival when they come into direct communication with the artificial intelligence deciding the future.
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Passes and Tickets for the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival
Festival passes are on sale now. Tickets for the June 10 The Songs of Red Dead Redemption 2 event go on sale Monday, May 10 at 11:00am EST. Game demo sessions may be reserved starting Monday, May 24 at 11:00am EST. Sign up to be notified at: https://www.tribecafilm.com/games
About the Tribeca Festival
The Tribeca Festival, presented by AT&T, brings artists and diverse audiences together to celebrate storytelling in all its forms, including film, TV, VR, games, music, and online work. With strong roots in independent film, Tribeca is a platform for creative expression and immersive entertainment. Tribeca champions emerging and established voices; discovers award-winning filmmakers and creators; curates innovative experiences; and introduces new technology and ideas through premieres, exhibitions, talks, and live performances.
The Festival was founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff in 2001 to spur the economic and cultural revitalization of lower Manhattan following the attacks on the World Trade Center. Tribeca will celebrate its 20th year June 9 – 20, 2021 www.tribecafilm.com/festival
In 2019, James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems, a private investment company with locations in New York and Mumbai, bought a majority stake in Tribeca Enterprises, bringing together Rosenthal, De Niro, and Murdoch to grow the enterprise.
About the 2021 Tribeca Festival Partners:
The 2021 Tribeca Festival is presented by AT&T and with the support of our corporate partners: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Audible, Bloomberg Philanthropies, CHANEL, City National Bank, CNN Films, Diageo, DoorDash, FreshDirect, Hudson Yards, Indeed, Montefiore-Einstein, NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, P&G, PwC, Roku, Spring Studios New York.