Rob McElhenney Expresses His Respect For The Gaming Industry And His Hopes For How They’ll View ‘Mythic Quest’
Rob McElhenney is known for his brutal sense of humor as one of the stars and creators of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but when it comes to his latest show, Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, the actor/writer actually wanted to make game developers “proud” more than he wanted to dunk on their entire industry.
While talking to Variety, McElhenney opened up about how a trip to a gaming studio informed his decision for where to take his main character in Mythic Quest:
McElhenney admits that he was unsure at first about making a show set in this world, but visiting producer Ubisoft’s Montreal facility allowed him to witness the “very strong-willed, passionate people” who have “equal amounts of power” but “different ideas on how to achieve their goals” when working on a game. The “inherent conflict” that comes from such an environment intrigued him, as did the fact that “because they truly are building a world, there are so many egomaniacs because they are essentially gods.”
While the setup of an egomaniacal gaming exec is rife with comedy, McElhenney and his creative team made it a point to work with actual game industry employees to not only capture the authenticity of life at a gaming studio, but to make them feel proud of their work building vast, expansive worlds that captivate millions of players.
“I wanted them to watch it and say, ‘Yes we’re proud of it. This feels like a show for us and celebrating us, instead of satirizing us,’” McElhenney told Variety.
Recently, Mythic Quest showed it clearly learned a thing or two about adapting to technological changes when the show delivered a quarantine special filmed entirely on iPhones. The Apple TV special was a hit, and its on the fly production was a technical marvel that would’ve been right at home at any gaming studio.
(Via Variety)