Q&A: Stormcraft Studios’ founder looks ahead to Immortal Romance II

After 12 long years of anticipation, Games Global’s Stormcraft Studios is finally set to release Immortal Romance II, the sequel to one of the industry’s best-performing slots. EGR spoke to the studio’s founder and executive producer, Terence Igesund, about what players can expect from the new title and how the characters and their narratives are key to the success of the game.  

EGR: What motivated the development of a detailed backstory for the characters in the original game, despite many creators opting to omit such context?

Terence Igesund (TI): Thinking back to those days, what pushed me to do what I had been wanting to do for some time, was seeing the success and popularity of paranormal romance fiction at the time. I realised this was a great opportunity to introduce a deeper level of engagement to the world of online gaming. 

EGR: To what extent do the characters and their narratives contribute to the enduring popularity of Immortal Romance, even after 12 years since its release?

TI: The character narratives were the catalyst for the evolution of Immortal Romance into a really compelling and immersive gaming experience. It helped that I am a storyteller at heart and my love for reading and writing really benefitted the creative process.

We took storytelling a step further with the introduction of songs for each character, written and composed in-house, which ultimately helped to turn Immortal Romance into the legendary game that it still is today. For many, Immortal Romance is so much more than just a slot game, it’s a prevailing symbol of nostalgia, which added great pressure on us to deliver successfully on the sequel.

EGR: As Immortal Romance II is set to be released, in what ways have the characters developed, and how does this influence the overall gaming experience?

TI: In the original game, I deliberately left Sarah’s narrative on an exciting cliffhanger, as I had every intention of creating a follow-up sequel that would further unpack and explore the dark intriguing tales within the mythology of Immortal Romance.

Even though 12 years may have passed since the original game launched, only three weeks have passed in the Immortal Romance world. We find Sarah struggling with the dilemma of having achieved the most incredible scientific breakthrough of her career, but at the cost of her relationship with Michael, who has completely withdrawn from the world as he feels deeply betrayed and responsible for putting the woman he loves in mortal danger. Allowing Sarah to study his blood was the biggest mistake of his immortal existence. News of her discovery regarding the reversal of cellular degeneration will ultimately reach the Shadow Council who ensure all knowledge of the Night Tribes remain secret, by any means necessary.  

Enter Troy, the wayward son of Michael, who in an attempt to gain his maker’s favour and prove his worth, joined the Shadow Council’s academy of assassins. In a wicked twist of fate, Troy’s first assignment turns out to be his maker’s mortal lover, Sarah. All of these fateful events are made visible to Amber through her precognitive visions and dreams, and, in a desperate attempt to save her best friend (Sarah), she decides to cast the most powerful spell of protection passed down from the generations of lightworkers before her.   

All of these dramatic storylines play out in the cinematic animations as well as the lyrics of the game soundtrack, with the culmination of these events revealed in the cliffhanger cinematic, which plays after unlocking immortality status at 5,000 spins.

EGR: You’ve released a playlist with the new soundtrack. What was your creation process and what role does the music play in the gaming experience?

TI: Immortal Romance is best known for its incredible soundtrack, so we had to bring our A-game to the table and create another memorable soundtrack that would resonate with players. We spent many hours researching and brainstorming what we wanted each of the character’s songs to sound like, before starting to work on preliminary instrumental sketches. Once these concept tracks had been finalised, I sat down to write the lyrics to the songs that would ultimately be sung by the professional recording artists we had signed up.

I believe the role of music in gaming is to help players connect with the deeper emotional aspects of the narrative, thereby further immerse them in the overall gaming experience. For example, Sarah’s song, Sacrifice, explores her feelings of guilt and remorse, while Michael and Troy’s songs similarly explore themes of betrayal and disillusionment. Amber’s song, on the other hand, is a commanding anthem of empowerment, which we believe is sure to become a strong favourite.

EGR: Has there been consideration for expanding Immortal Romance into a broader franchise, akin to how The Last of Us and Resident Evil transitioned from games to television series and other media?

TI: For as long as I can remember, I’ve fantasised about flipping the script and evolving one of our original slot games into an entertainment brand opportunity that could be adapted into a movie or television series. You just have to look at the teaser trailers on YouTube that we created for both of our new Thunderstruck games to see the powerful visual storytelling capability of Stormcraft Studios.

The character narratives and cinematic win animations of Immortal Romance, combined with the visually evocative songwriting, are all testament to the studio’s core values of craftsmanship and entertainment. The prospect of seeing our game brands evolve into a graphic novel, then a TV series, Hollywood movie or Broadway musical would be a dream come true for me.

Immortal Romance II is due to be released late May.

Terence Igesund founded Stormcraft Studios in 2016, a game development studio dedicated to creating gaming experiences across multiple games and technologies, exclusively for Games Global.

As a slot enthusiast, driven by a passion for quality and innovation and over 27 years of industry experience, Igesund leads the company in his role as executive producer, overseeing and managing the development of games from conception to release.

He brings a strong understanding of the market and player preferences to every project, with the ultimate goal to craft unforgettable gaming experiences and entrain players around the world.