Dante's Inferno concept was greenlit immediately
by JC Fletcher 
{ Nov 11th 2009 at 4:31PM } 
"Nobody's really taken on that kind of medieval Christian notion of the afterlife as a very real place that you go to, you know, just under the ground, and there's monsters and demons and rivers," Knight said. "It's just a crazy, fantastical, incredible vision that Dante Alighieri had for Hell, and my execs immediately saw the potential there for a real game."
In addition to the appeal of Hell -- a concept that "everybody has some knowledge of" -- we can imagine that EA appreciated what is basically a licensed game based on a public domain property, especially these days.
Gallery: Dante's Inferno
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kira @ Nov 11th 2009 4:33PM
Thank god, I was worried it might get rejected.
Hooch is Craaazey @ Nov 11th 2009 4:35PM
Ea really have changed their tune
B3astofthe3ast @ Nov 11th 2009 4:37PM
I like tits.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 4:38PM
Oh, you too huh?
Liquid man @ Nov 11th 2009 8:06PM
Well whaddya know.......so do I!
WINterfang ( Now with the power to piss you off ) @ Nov 11th 2009 8:48PM
That's weird I like tits also, it's like my guilty pleasure, I didn't knew more people like this also?
errrg now that most people like it, I won't look as cool, errg I'm gonna like Vaginas for now on.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 4:39PM
I'm a little surprised this happened. You'd expect EA to have required a bit of convincing.
Noah @ Nov 11th 2009 5:37PM
I'm surprised this would happen in any medium, really. Even pitch, manuscript and design plan has to go through several rejections almost on principle. This is a very rare occurence indeed.
The only other time I ever remember hearing about a project being greenlit immediately was the first Alien movie, if only because of its legendary three-word pitch: "Jaws in space."
Warlock @ Nov 11th 2009 4:39PM
"Nobody's really taken on that kind of medieval Christian notion of the afterlife as a very real place that you go to, you know, just under the ground, and there's monsters and demons and rivers,"
Then what the hell was Diablo?
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 4:41PM
*"Nobody at EA"
I fixed it for them.
Ethan @ Nov 11th 2009 4:43PM
Or, 'it seemed a bit like some popular games on the market but without us getting our asses sued.'
To be fair I imagine it will sell well, but I don't think it will expand EA's literary cred.
BLipp18 @ Nov 11th 2009 4:48PM
or, "God of War seems to be very popular, so lets just change the mythology and give it to people who own the 360 and cant play god of war"
JACK @ Nov 12th 2009 4:39AM
cant wait for the, "god of war sucked compared to dante" or [insert knock off game].
Donald @ Nov 11th 2009 4:55PM
Considering the pitch was written on a napkin "It's Dead Space meets God of War IN HELL", I'm not exactly shocked.
Anthology @ Nov 11th 2009 5:13PM
FUND IT.
ComicShaman @ Nov 11th 2009 5:41PM
Wonder if they mentioned the idea of generating fake protests, manufacturing controversy, and teasing nanny associations with dead baby trophies as part of the pitch.
The Dark Wayne [Planeteer: Power of the Batusi] @ Nov 11th 2009 4:59PM
If theyre going with an unexplored hell setting, i would have infinitely preferred a Ghost Rider game as opposed to this BADASS POET crap
PrinceWitherdick @ Nov 11th 2009 5:13PM
I'm all for classic literature being turned into games. I can't wait to spend hours floating down a river with Tom Sawyer and finishing "The Catcher in the Rye" after a 20 hour session and realize I didn't do anything.
Temidien @ Nov 11th 2009 5:31PM
Isn't the whole point of "Catcher" that no one ever really does anything? It's existential nihilism, but I enjoyed it...
That being said, it would be a crappy game.
Jerome @ Nov 11th 2009 5:15PM
I really doubt anybody in their right mind has ever claimed hell was "just under the ground". Also, the idea of hell was around long before Dante Alighieri came along, and as for the claim that nobody believes it's a real place, what's this guy talking about?
Arcaria @ Nov 11th 2009 5:29PM
Will there be a cow level?
Temidien @ Nov 11th 2009 5:32PM
Am I the only one that finds translating Inferno into a literal adventure to not only be silly but disrespectful to the ideas that Dante was trying to convey?
All the same, it looks like a fun game.
Yaanu @ Nov 11th 2009 5:40PM
The original Dante was a poet with a dead girlfriend.
The new Dante is a battle-scarred war veteran who defeats Death, ravages his way through Hades, defeats figures such as Cleopatra, and crucifies babies so that he may save his dead girlfriend. He also spits out shoddy one-liners at various intervals.
JeremyR @ Nov 11th 2009 7:15PM
The whole thing was mostly political satire. Unless you happened to live then, you wouldn't get most of the references. You have to read an annotated version that explains who is who to do so (unless you're an expert on Medieval Italian politics)
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Nov 11th 2009 5:40PM
Tits. Nature's juicer.
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Nov 11th 2009 5:42PM
I got ahead of myself here and failed to reply properly. Thinking of breasts made my already red tighty whities...tighter.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 5:54PM
Nice.
WINterfang ( Now with the power to piss you off ) @ Nov 11th 2009 8:51PM
Captain Planet that's disgusting...please continue.
OmegaVader @ Nov 11th 2009 5:47PM
"The Dante's Inferno game concept -- a totally brutal action-adventure based on Dante Alighieri's epic poem -- seems like a hard sell to us"
Let's not be silly here, the "concept" was "A God of War rip off that perverts chrisitan myhtology instead of greek!"
Andy Anonymous @ Nov 11th 2009 5:49PM
I've seen MUDs like LegendMUD that have areas based on Dante's Inferno, so it's not exactly true that NO one has put Hell into a game as a physical place...and honestly I find a text game to be more appropriate to adventures based on books. But that's me.
JeremyR @ Nov 11th 2009 7:13PM
I don't think it's that shocking.
"Hey, let's make a God of War knockoff"
"Great idea. What can we use instead of Greek mythology?"
"Norse? No. How about Christianity."
"Great, that way we can drum up some fake controversy, too."
Not even that new for EA. They put out a RPG called "Escape from Hell".
Maximiliano Guerra @ Nov 11th 2009 7:13PM
"seems like a hard sell to us"
What? Why?
I can already see it, beautifully sitting next my God of War 3 and my PS3 (and no, I'm not making a silly joke about it being a rip or whatever).
I'll buy anything those guys come up with, after Dead Space, they have my trust (as long as it has to do with action, terror and gore). Also, perfect named studio :D
Jay @ Nov 11th 2009 7:19PM
Gah ... his comments make it clear he has no real understanding of the original material whatsoever! Dante didn't view his concepts as a real place -- it was completely a political allegory tied into the period it was written. It wasn't like he believed hell was actually like that. wtf
Thiago123 @ Nov 12th 2009 9:06AM
Yeah pretty sure the reason the pitch was approved right away had nothing to do with the license of Dante's Inferno, and everything to do with the developer saying something along the lines of "just like God of War" and "look at these God of War sales figures."