Never Alone devs tackle Ukrainian folklore with The Forest Song

Never Alone set out to explore the culture of a widly underrepresented people—the native Alaskan Iñupiat—in addition to some wider cautionary themes, and we thought it succeeded with aplomb. Creative director Sean Vesce and art director Dima Veryovka have reunited for a new project under the banner of Colabee Studios: The Forest Song.

The Forest Song is a first-person adventure adaptation of Lisova Pisnya, a Ukrainian drama in which a peasant has a close encounter with a powerful forest spirit. It's the starting point for a journey deep into the strange and tangled mythology of Ukraine, the influence of which can be felt in The Witcher series.

For the developers, it's a chance to bridge the gap between youth and the elderly in a country whose own culture has been hard to cling on to.