The Royal Shakespeare Company today announced that it is partnering with independent developer Ink Stories to create Lili, a video game inspired by William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth.
Set in contemporary Iran and starring Cannes Best Actress winner Zar Amir, whose Paris-based Alambic Production company co-produces the title, Lili puts Lady Macbeth in the spotlight.
Lili, A Video Game Inspired by Macbeth
As noted in an emailed press release, “Amir draws from her lived experience as an Iranian woman in exile who has courageously confronted her own battles against authoritarian gendered oppression.”
Lili is described as “a screen life thriller video game” whose interactive story allows us to immerse ourselves in a “stylized, neo-noir vision of modern Iran, where surveillance and authoritarianism are part of daily life.”
Gameplay-wise, it proimses a “blend of live-action cinema within an interactive game format, giving players the chance to immerse themselves in the world of Lady Macbeth and make choices that influence her destiny.”
The witches present in Macbeth are reimagined as hackers, with surveillance cameras and cyber-infiltration capabilities, laying the foundation for a modern take on the classic tragedy that “explores themes of technological domination, the manipulation of information, and institutional violence, reflecting the dark realities of inequities in our digital age.”
Lili marks the Royal Shakespeare Company’s debut in games and is currently slated to launch later in 2025 on both PC and consoles. More details about it and the specific platforms it’s aiming for will likely be shared in the lead-up to release.
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