Substrata Represents Passion Project from Top Game Artists


All work and no play make artists dull people. For as much work as they put into honing their craft and taking the jobs they have to in order to get by, sometimes their passion projects fall by the wayside. For a group of some of the top video game artists in the world, the opportunity to come together on something that's long been a desire of theirs. Substrata is the culmination of that passion, a book that shows what happens when over 80 creators from the world’s top video game studios join forces to create the ultimate dark fantasy game. The answer is Substrata, a brilliant new art book collecting designs for the heroes, enemies and landscapes of this hypothetical new game world…

“SUBSTRATA gave us all a chance to conceive and execute our own ideas in our own voices,” said Paul Richards, Project Curator. “This is a mighty win for artists devoted to making exciting, original game content for its own sake. In that spirit, we’re proud to say all proceeds from the book will go to the charity organization Gamers for Good. Please visit them at www.gamersforgood.com.”

Substrata is the brainchild of Richards, who conceived of the project as a way to reunite his fellow artists from Vigil Games, makers of the Darksiders franchise. Together, they rallied a global community of artists and the result is a breathtaking tome, featuring a who’s-who of top-tier talent from across the gaming industry. Substrata is a true passion project, where artists were encouraged to forsake conventions, inhibitions and technological limitations to create something never seen before. The artists who have lent their passion to Substrata have worked on some of the industry's top-rated AAA games.

The contributors include Allods Online, Assassin's Creed IV, Darksiders I & II, DayZ, Destiny, Diablo 3, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Doom 4, DotA 2, EVE Online, Evolve, Firefall, Gears of War, Guild Wars 2, Halo 4, Hearthstone, Hunted, League of Legends, Left 4 Dead 2, Overlord, Overlord 2, Portal 2, Rift, Runescape, Saints Row, SMITE, Star Citizen, StarCraft 2, Uncharted 3, Wildstar and World of Warcraft.

“UDON is honored to be involved with the Substrata project,” said UDON’s Managing Editor Matt Moylan. “We get to publish a book with some of the greatest game artists from around the world, and the book itself is gorgeous, really, that’s its own reward. But it was UDON’s publication of The Art of Darksiders II that spurred Paul to want to work with his studiomates again, and all of us at UDON take pride in knowing that we contributed to the inception of SUBSTRATA, and now, we’re helping to bring it to gamers and makers everywhere.”

Gamers, artists, and up-and-coming developers alike, this is your chance to see a world created from the ground up, and no fan of video game artwork should miss this unique, uncensored peek at a game project from the moment of its conception. Substrata is now available for pre-order through comic book stores, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and wherever great books are sold. It'll set you back $44.99 for 240 color pages and proceeds from the sale of Substrata will be donated to Gamers for Good.

Full press release below.

One dark fantasy game. 80 original visions.

SUBSTRATA

‘Press Start’ on a passion project from an international array of top game artists

Coming Summer 2014 from UDON Entertainment
Now Available for Pre-Order at Comics StoresBarnes & Noble, and Amazon

www.udonentertainment.com
SUBSTRATA Cover Image by Adrian Dadich, text logo design by Michael Scala.What happens when over 80 creators from the world’s top video game studios join forces to create the ultimate dark fantasy game? The answer is SUBSTRATA, a brilliant new art book collecting designs for the heroes, enemies, and landscapes of this hypothetical new game world…

SUBSTRATA is the brainchild of illustrator Paul Richards, who conceived of the project as a way to reunite his fellow artists from Vigil Games, makers of the Darksidersfranchise. Together, they rallied a global community of artists and the result is a breathtaking tome, featuring a who’s-who of top-tier talent from across the gaming industry. SUBSTRATA is a true passion project, where artists were encouraged to forsake conventions, inhibitions, and technological limitations to create something never seen before.

“SUBSTRATA gave us all a chance to conceive and execute our own ideas in our own voices,” said Paul Richards, Project Curator. “This is a mighty win for artists devoted to making exciting, original game content for its own sake. In that spirit, we’re proud to say all proceeds from the book will go to the charity organization Gamers for Good. Please visit them at www.gamersforgood.com.

The artists who have lent their passion to SUBSTRATA have worked on some of the industry's top-rated AAA games. Check out this amazing list of games that have featured artwork by SUBSTRATA contributors:

Allods Online - Assassin's Creed IV - Darksiders I & II - DayZ - Destiny - Diablo 3 - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Doom 4 - DotA 2 -  EVE Online - Evolve - Firefall - Gears of War - Guild Wars 2 - Halo 4 - Hearthstone - Hunted - League of Legends - Left 4 Dead 2 - Overlord - Overlord 2 - Portal 2 - Rift - Runescape - Saints Row - SMITE - Star Citizen - StarCraft 2 - Uncharted 3 - Wildstar - World of Warcraft
(All titles TM & © their respective owners.)

Substrata Page 174. Art by Allison Theus.“UDON is honored to be involved with the Substrata project,” said UDON’s Managing Editor Matt Moylan. “We get to publish a book with some of the greatest game artists from around the world, and the book itself is gorgeous, really, that’s its own reward. But it was UDON’s publication of The Art of Darksiders II that spurred Paul to want to work with his studiomates again, and all of us at UDON take pride in knowing that we contributed to the inception of SUBSTRATA, and now, we’re helping to bring it to gamers and makers everywhere.”

Gamers, artists, and up-and-coming developers alike, this is your chance to see a world created from the ground up, and no fan of video game artwork should miss this unique, uncensored peek at a game project from the moment of its conception.

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SUBSTRATA is now available for pre-order through comic book storesBarnes & NobleAmazon, and wherever great books are sold. Look for it everywhere this spring!

SUBSTRATA: Open World Dark Fantasy
Price: $44.99
ISBN-10: 1927925134
ISBN-13: 978-1927925133
Diamond Code: DEC138127
240 pages, Color


Proceeds from the sale of SUBSTRATA will be donated to Gamers for Good, http://www.gamersforgood.com/.
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KEEP READING FOR A 25-PAGE PREVIEW OF SUBSTRATA!

Substrata Cover Image by Adrian Dadich, with text logo design by Michael Scala. Click for larger version.
Substrata Pages 20-21. Art by Darren Bartley.  Click for larger version.
Substrata Pages 220-221. Art by Tham Hoi Mun. Click for larger version.
Substrata Pages 64-65. Art by Justin Albers. Click for larger version.
Substrata Pages 34-35. Art by Esben Lash Rasmussen. Click for larger version.
Substrata Pages 74-75. Art by Kory Hubbell. Click for larger version.
Substrata Pages 76-77. Art by Kurt Papstein. Click for larger version.
Substrata Pages 58-59. Art by Helen Rusovich.  Click for larger version.
Substrata Pages 94-95. Art by Max Gon. Click for larger version.
Substrata Pages 108-109. Art by Nick Southam.  Click for larger version.
Substrata Pages 104-105. Art by Naomi Baker.  Click for larger version.
Substrata Pages 208-209. Art by Stephen Oakley.  Click for larger version.
Substrata Pages 186-187. Art by Sabin Boykinov.  Click for larger version.
Copyright © 2014 UDON Entertainment, All rights reserved. 

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