British game developer Just Add Water is working with studio Oddworld Inhabitants on several new Oddworld projects.  That is fantastic news!  I would have been excited about just one new Oddworld project.  There are several?  I’m elated!  Just Add Water is making the new games and is licensed on several platforms including the PS3, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and PC.  We should see Abe and maybe Munche return with renewed vigor.

After Munche’s Odyssey debuted on the original Xbox platform disappointed fans were waiting on the fifth game Squeek’s Odyssey which never debuted.  In the late nineties after several hit side scrolling games for PlayStation were developed, Oddworld Inhabitants transferred its license to Microsoft.  Munche’s Odyssey and Strangers Wrath did average business on the Xbox.  Both games disappointed fans since the games were only available on one platform and the design changed from classic 2D side scroll-er to a 3D design. Stranger’s Wrath further disappointed by jumping onto the First Person Shooter band wagon in 2005 leaving behind its core puzzler game style.  Although both Xbox games were interesting and innovative Oddworld Inhabitants ceased production on further games due to mediocre reviews and declining sales.  The studio decided to shut down and take a multi-year hiatus.  Oddworld Inhabitants is now said to be back working on a movie project with a game tie-in, and another separate game all its own.

Studio Just Add Water (JAW) is working closely with Oddworld Inhabitants since June 2009. That’s just over a year of work on the franchise.  Fans of Oddworld should breath a sigh of relief to know that Oddworld creators Lorne Lanning and Sherry McKenna have been working closely with JAW. This should ensure the games will remain true to their Oddworld roots and atmosphere.  JAW is the developer of the PlayStation Network and the game Gravity Crash for the PSP.  The studio should be announcing their new projects in coming weeks for multiple platforms starring your favorite Oddworld characters.  Lets see if they show anything this August at Gamescon.  Of note the JAW blog says these guys are true fans of the past Oddworld games.  The franchise is in good hands it seems.

JAW’s director:

“To work with the team at Oddworld has been amazing; being able to tap the minds of Lorne Lanning, Sherry McKenna and others has been fantastic,” said Just Add Water’s Managing Director Stewart Gilray.

“It’s almost symbiotic in that when something moves forward on any of the projects we just start chatting about new items, or what if we do this,” Gilray continued. “We’re all extremely excited to breathe life into the Oddworld universe and indeed to let it breathe life into us.”