This is Jenova Chen, co-founder and creative director from thatgamecompany. As you may know from my recent tweet, the development of our latest PlayStation Network game, Journey, is finally complete. And today, we’re very excited to announce the official release date for Journey. You will be able to download it from PlayStation Store from March 14th, 2012.
With each game we create, we want to bring something truly unique and authentic to the user. We want our players to experience something they have never felt before. Our first game for PSN was flOw in 2007, a meditative zen video game haiku. We followed that in 2009 with Flower, our video game version of a poem about the tension between urban bustle and natural serenity. Journey, our third game, is an interactive parable, an anonymous online adventure to experience a person’s life passage and their intersections with others.
You wake alone and surrounded by miles of burning, sprawling desert, and soon discover the looming mountaintop which is your goal. Faced with rolling sand dunes, age-old ruins, caves and howling winds, your passage will not be an easy one. The goal is to get to the mountaintop, but the experience along the way is discovering who you are, what this place is, and what your purpose is. Travel and explore this ancient, mysterious world alone, or with a stranger you meet along the way. Soar above ruins and glide across sands as you discover the secrets of a forgotten civilization. Featuring stunning visuals, haunting music, and unique online gameplay, Journey delivers an experience like no other.
This last Sunday, February 12th, was the anniversary of the launch of our previous game Flower. We started working on Journey right after Flower launched, and the past three years have flown by extremely fast. In these three years, we at thatgamecompany and our friends in SCEA Santa Monica Studio have faced many challenges together and emerged stronger. Much sweat and tears have been put into the development of the game, and many people have come and gone.
So for us, the Journey in the game has also become a metaphor for the development process of the game itself. Our team is very close to our own mountaintop; we are just a few short weeks away from letting the world experience what we’ve poured our hearts and souls into these last three years. I can’t describe how eager we are to let everyone finally play the game and hear about your experiences with it.
Stay tuned for more Journey news and updates in the coming weeks.
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54 CommentsAdd Yours
1
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:07 pm by wardenxx
can’t wait
2
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:11 pm by Roxas598
Consider it bought already
a vita version of flower (and this) would be great Btw if possible
3
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:12 pm by KittyKlaws619
Cannot wait for this game! Really enjoyed fl0w and Flower.
4
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:16 pm by Catkiller1
Since the 12th February was the Anniversary of Flower, is there any chance you could ask the Store Team for a 50% discount next week?
5
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:17 pm by aodhanman
want this nooooowwwww
6
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:17 pm by fleinn
Any news on how you solved..
1. The lag/matchmaking?
2. The camera-controls?
I really, really, really don’t want to see anyone lagging in this game. So if it’s not possible to purposely lock out people who lag because of Sony – can we have an option to exclusively match against people we don’t lag towards?
And the controls – if you have a camera-view on the right stick, it will take exactly three seconds after you “meet” someone on the path, before they spin around and keep sticking back and forth, etc. This doesn’t look as good or natural as having the camera on the sixaxis controller.
So if it’s about aesthetics – at least this title should not go for what your focus-groups are bound to wish for.
7
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:18 pm by X201
I’m deliberately ignoring all videos and promo stuff for this.
Decided I wanted it when I first saw it, and now I just want to discover the game myself rather than have videos show everything and spoil it.
8
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:20 pm by scally6
day one purchase for me,loved flower
9
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:21 pm by fjernbetjening
Is there any chance of a discount on Flower, in regards to it’s 3rd anniversary?
10
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:22 pm by KillerXp82
I played this at the GameFest expo & was so lost on what I was suppose to be doing.
11
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:24 pm by KILLO31
CAN’T WAIT !
12
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:28 pm by ABTR
Great!
Two epic games from thatgamecompany (Flow, Flower) Lets go from third 
13
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:36 pm by Dante_Zero
UK price & plus discount please.
PSVita version please.
either way, enjoyed playing it at eurogamer and can’t wait. insta buy.
14
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:37 pm by FrostScythe1
Looks good can’t wait to buy it
15
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:37 pm by fleinn
“I played this at the GameFest expo & was so lost on what I was suppose to be doing.”
Congrats, you’re probably part of the focus-group Sony hired in, then. I’m looking forward to launch-day, when they patch in a “Kinjal death-strike” to randomly backstab your fellow travellers – because “the community demands it”.
16
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:38 pm by GutsBerserker
Finally the day has come, I’m ready and so is my wallet!
Sony don’t let those guys slip through your fingers, hire them again!
17
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:38 pm by INS1GHTFUL
I echo the need for a vita version…or remote play feature would be good too.
18
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:40 pm by Starcruizah
What about playing Journey on the PS Vita? Or flow? Or Flower? I’d love to do that!
19
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:41 pm by RetroModular
I cannot wait to get my hands on this game, I was sold on the stunning visuals alone. If “interactive art” is anything, it is Journey.
It will be interesting to see where TGC goes from here seeing as this is contractually the final PS3 exclusive. Maybe we will see some TGC games appearing on Steam in the not so distant future.
20
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:43 pm by Rytteren
want! loved the beta. and that was just THE BETA!
21
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:43 pm by ALhammadi51
Nice
22
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:51 pm by Fikston
This game always looked cool, I’ll buy it if it ever comes to Vita
23
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 3:59 pm by HazelAM
scee aint gonna be able to resist delaying this, just watch.
24
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 4:00 pm by taurus82
<< Look here-ish, Journey avatars available on the store.
25
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 4:04 pm by Icey7
Excellent news – will have to pick this up.
So, what’s next for thatgamecompany?
26
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 4:06 pm by almighty-slayer
Take my money!
Cannot wait
27
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 4:20 pm by Rocstarr
great
28
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 4:22 pm by Rocstarr
Cool
29
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 4:24 pm by Marrsterhausen
At long last! Great news. Day one purchase. (something decent to shout about on the PSN store, it’s been a while)
30
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 4:29 pm by TimBeal5678
This looks SERIOUSLY good. Now I need to unravel some cash…
31
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 5:00 pm by Akith
Great news! One of the most anticipated games I’ve been waiting!
32
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 5:02 pm by jonny_hart_digit
high demand for vita version. add me to the list
33
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 5:13 pm by dsl278
Now here is something to REALLY look forward to, instead of all that Vita c$*p… ;-p
34
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 5:40 pm by Basket21
Hm think i dont have flow …
thats psp only though right ?
35
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 5:48 pm by GGP_NL
PSN –> SEN (Sony Entertainment Network)?????
36
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 5:53 pm by Psicojacorral
Great!!
37
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 5:59 pm by Akith
Basket21, no flow is available for PS3 as well as for PSP you can get it from the Store~
38
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 6:55 pm by Phil_E
Absolutely great news. cant wait for this. had money in my PSN wallet for this since it was announced
39
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 7:18 pm by dee4life4444
Looks incredible. Any idea on the price? Defo getting it!
40
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 7:26 pm by HUYI
thatgamecompany is one of the few game devs who create original games that’s why i will always buy their games, i am looking forward to journey, i enjoyed the beta a lot.
41
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 7:27 pm by jonasbylin
Cross-play?
42
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 7:40 pm by chrisandsheva
To thatgamecompany.
How come you advertised Flower, on the ps stores preview video, with music by Bob Dylan, but after buying the game i realised that Bobs music was Not included?,, my very 1st ‘bad’ experience buying something from the store. To say i was a bit upset would of been the understatement of the year, back then, but seriously was that not false advertising,?.. i mean if the song (artist) you actually used to help get peoples interest in the game, actually isn’t in it, Shouldn’t there have been a Notice, even in small print on the video, or in the games details?.. Not sure what it cost me, around £8 (i think), and just because of the ‘clever’ video, as for the game, well IF the music had been included i would of probably spent some time (occasionally), ‘blowing in (or like) the wind’, But many lessons learned since then.
43
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 7:45 pm by chrisandsheva
This game does look very good, the reviews from people are also positive, but am hoping it will be trial and unlock,?… just so i can be sure.
44
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 8:33 pm by StuDevo
Day 1 for me
45
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 9:00 pm by Falcon1991
I’m liking how this is the type of game where you can just relax, explore and think. So many games don’t have that.
I remember viewing a blog entry before about the music, and it sounds so lovely. I can’t wait to hear more of the tunes.
All in all, it has a very quaint and intriguing premise. This and Doctor Who for PSN in March will have me happy.
46
Posted on 16 February, 2012 at 9:02 pm by jetpacksheep
This looks artistically amazing, this is truley a visual showcase of the versitility games can bring, I will be getting this, hopefully it will be £9.99 for U.K since it is $14.99 U.S
47
Posted on 17 February, 2012 at 12:23 am by Caode
I’ve been waiting a long long time to hear this news, can’t wait. Flower was simply amazing, one of the most unique game’s you’ll find on any platform, can’t wait to experience this.
Now if only we could coax thatgamecompany into getting a Vita version out the door too……
48
Posted on 17 February, 2012 at 1:33 am by fleinn
@Vita version people – you don’t want to know if that would at all be possible without killing the animation quality, though? Like with Uncharted, for example. Was that really worth it?
49
Posted on 17 February, 2012 at 6:00 am by Ryusennin
Interesting that Jenova doesn’t mention the European price when he said in the same post on PSBlog US that it will cost 15$. I expect Sony to do the reasonable thing and release the game at 12€.
50
Posted on 17 February, 2012 at 6:28 am by Ceacliod
I would get it, but my 40Gb PS3 has been stuffed for years :p So if there isn’t going to be any physical disc release, I’m afraid I won’t be able to get it..
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