Tron

The newly released Tron: Catalyst had a rare opportunity to inject something entirely fresh into a 42-year-old IP – Yes, it’s really been that long. Crafting a new narrative in a unique location is easier said than done for one of Disney’s most cherished IPs. Here’s how the team at Bithell Games pulled it off.

When it comes to working with legacy material, pun not intended, a franchise so deeply rooted in popular culture, it inherently comes with certain expectations. Multiple generations of fandom hold the creation in their hearts for vital reasons, and you just can’t mess with that.

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It’s why many contemporary recreations or adaptations tend to play it safe. Retreading footsteps laid out before them rather than charting a new course. But that’s not what Bithell Games had in mind for its second venture onto The Grid.

Tron: Catalyst, a brand-new video game spinoff now available across PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC, dares to be different. While aesthetically very much in line with what you’d expect, and yes, you definitely still get to ride a Light Cycle, that’s about where the comparisons end.

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It encases a wholly original narrative with nuanced characters. New environments unlike anything previously explored on screen or in written material. It’s a big step for such a lauded IP. We spoke with Bithell Games to learn just how it all came to pass with the help of Disney & Pixar Games.

Entering the Grid (again)

2023 marked Bithell Games’ first steps in collaborating with Disney. Tron: Identity launched as a bite-sized visual-novel style adventure with a few odd puzzles scattered throughout. Over the next two years, the devs got to expand their vision. Not just in terms of gameplay systems, but in how far they could take things with the beloved franchise.

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For starters, Tron: Catalyst takes place somewhere brand-new. It’s not the Grid we’re familiar with, thanks to the feature films or earlier gaming spinoffs. Rather, it’s a completely different locale built from the ground up for this project.

“The idea of building a game in an adjacent Grid was exciting,” as Mike Bithell told us.

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“Tron is an amazing lens through which to tell a host of stories, and ultimately that’s what we’re looking for opportunities to do.”

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Bithell Games / Big Fan GamesLife on the Grid is no walk in the park for Exo.

It’s not just the world itself that inspires great narratives, Bithell explained, but the themes that have become intertwined with Tron along the way. “Rebellion, interconnectedness, family, friends, and society. [It’s] the stuff from which we can draw the most interesting character-driven [material].”

Despite having sat on the shelf for a painfully long time after Legacy, Bithell, as we all are, is stoked to see “Tron having a bit of a renaissance” right now as a result of the above. “A Tron-aissance,” if you will. “Is that anything?”

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A new program

As we’ve mentioned, Tron: Catalyst serves up a new look at life on a Grid. But it’s not just unique characters like protagonist Exo, with her time-bending abilities, it’s even the surroundings too.

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Every detail had to be considered before being popped in. But as Bithell explained, it wasn’t necessarily a matter of asking Disney for a list of dos and don’ts.

“Disney are of course master storytellers, and Tron itself has been created and populated by many generations of creatives across films, comics, and video games. It wasn’t so much of a conversation about rules, as a conversation about respecting that, ahem, legacy.

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“The goal was to be expansive rather than conservative, while respecting and pulling on the threads that were previously established. The Disney & Pixar Games team didn’t just oversee or vet our choices, they were active collaborators in finding these characters and stories with us.”

Bithell Games / Big Fan GamesThere’s little else quite as satisfying as seeing enemies crumble in a heap of blocky pixels.

Derezzed

Of course, worldbuilding and characterization are just the beginning. After all, what’s a good Tron game if we can’t yeet our Identity Disc while techno blares in the background?

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Tron: Catalyst is acutely aware of this consideration and packs in some deeply intricate mechanics as a result. As Exo, you’re taking down swarms of neon orange enemies both on foot and on Light Cycle, but there’s far more to it than you may think.

“With combat in particular, you learn a lot from getting something in that sucks, and polishing it
til it doesn’t,” Bithell said candidly.

“I’d say our fundamental approach, focusing on situational awareness, multiple enemies, and attack juggling, has been there from the start. What’s exciting has been the many ways we’ve riffed on that throughout the game.”

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Ultimately, the team was driven by a core set of questions. As outlined, it was a matter of asking what the player will actually want to be doing in the moment-to-moment of a Tron game. From there, how can the devs “make that feel as cool and interactive as it looked on screen?

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“My fantastic design team has gotten there, with the help of some serious playtesting.”

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