Unreal-powered animation Killtopia primed by Voltaku
A forthcoming cyberpunk animated series from startup Voltaku, Killtopia is based on the award-winning, indie graphic novel series created by Dave Cook and Craig Paton. Described as “Blade Runner meets Battle Royale for the Fortnite generation,” Killtopia follows a bounty hunter and his robot sidekick through a futuristic megacity as they fight brutal thugs, augmented mercenaries and android assassins in a race to save the bounty hunter’s sister — and the world — from a deadly nano plague.
The series will consist of eight 20-minute episodes, completely developed using Unreal Engine and virtual production techniques. Squarely aimed at ‘otaku’, the Japanese term for people obsessed with anime, manga and gaming, it will follow two siblings pitted against yakuza, plagues and mechs in a futuristic megacity.
The series is also the launching pad for Voltaku’s hybrid studio, which has already optioned two other sci-fi/ fantasy projects for cross-platform development. Based in Los Angeles, the studio describes its content being “nestled deep in the worlds of anime, manga and gaming, bringing a new level of epic worldbuilding and character-driven stories to the growing otaku market”.
“Game engines are giving studios a flexibility we’ve never seen before,” said Charles Borland, Voltaku CEO and co-founder. “When we option a project, it doesn’t have to stop with a movie or a TV series anymore. We can take our 3D production assets and build a game, VR/AR experiences, marketing materials, digital goods, basically anything we want, at Lion King or Avatar-like production levels. And that’s exactly what ‘otaku’ are looking for — more ways to engage with the worlds they love.”
The series will be written by TV, film and game veteran Phil Gelatt (Love Death & Robots,Europa Report, Rise of the Tomb Raider), with concept art provided by David Levy and Pitch Dev Studios (Avatar sequels, Tron: Legacy, Prometheus). It will be helmed by Oscar-nominated director Ruairi Robinson (Fifty Percent Grey, The Leviathan, The Last Days on Mars).
To get the project off the ground, Voltaku received an Epic MegaGrant from Epic Games, which will be used to develop its completely Unreal-powered pipeline. The Epic MegaGrants program is designed to support game developers, enterprise professionals, media and entertainment creators, students, educators and tool developers working with Unreal Engine or enhancing open-source capabilities.
“When Killtopia launches, it’s going to look like nothing that’s been seen on TV before,” said Dave Cook, creator of Killtopia. “Our world is garish and vibrant, where hype, fandom and pop culture rule the day, which is the perfect launching pad for big stories. I’ve always wanted to see something so colorful and abstract depicted in a 3D world. With Voltaku’s help, I think we’re going to blow people away.”
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