Cuba's first independent video game launched internationally this week after its creators leveled up from an epic real-world quest to fight sanctions, battle internet connectivity demons and survive economic turmoil.
Saviorless is a hand-illustrated 2D game that transports players into a dark fantasy world where they battle monsters, solve puzzles, and unravel the mysteries of the Isle of Smiles.
Like the characters, creators Josuje Paglieri and David Darias had to overcome numerous obstacles to achieve what at times seemed impossible on a communist island.
“This project was born at a historic moment,” said Paglieri, a graphic artist who first came up with the idea in 2016. At the time, relations between Cuba and the United States were thawing under President Barack Obama.
The initiative received support from American foundations and crowdfunding, and Pagliery traveled to the United States, where his dream of creating an independent Cuban video game received media coverage.
At the same time, in Cuba, the internet was previously only available in public places at a high cost, but in 2018 it became possible to use the internet on mobile phones, dramatically lowering the cost of connection.
But this “bright period” was followed by a “perfect storm to cancel the project,” Paglieri said.
– Authorized coast –
Political tensions have returned under US President Donald Trump, who has tightened economic sanctions. The first programmers tasked with developing the game emigrated, and Cuba plunged into its worst economic crisis in decades after the coronavirus pandemic, marked by shortages and power outages.
“The whole development of this project was characterized by instability,” says Darias, 35, a former professor at the University of Havana who now works from home as an independent programmer.
Financial constraints, disputes over the name of the game, doubts and technical challenges all presented obstacles on the way to the island, which has been under a U.S. embargo since 1962.
Their software didn't always work on slow internet connections, sanctions-banned programs required connecting through a VPN (virtual private network), and power outages complicated backups.
“The worst thing that happened twice was that I lost not only my last minute job, but also my entire week's work,” said Darias, who experienced a power outage during the backup.
After four years of work, their finances were running low, and after sending hundreds of letters to international publishers and getting no response, the two friends decided to leave behind at least a trace of all our efforts. Paglieri said he decided to give a free demo to help people save their lives.
～Conquer your dreams～
That's when Dear Villagers, a games publisher based in the south of France, took note of the efforts of the Cuban people and decided to help them “make their dreams come true,” said company founder Francis Ingrain. he told AFP.
“We've always had a desire for original projects. We love the artistic touch and the game spoke to us,” he added, adding that the two have “achieved crazy things.” praised the developer's tenacity.
Luis Antonio Noa, 27, who runs a YouTube channel dedicated to gaming, said the project has become something of a “legend” among the island's gamer community because it took so long to come to fruition. That's it.
Carlos Óscar Anaya, 29, a partner on the channel, said Cuban gamers mainly play free games, pirated games, and domestically produced games, but that Cuban video games are “more educational.'' He said he is used to being a “target”.
He said that “Saviorless'' is “a game with a dark plot that seeks only to entertain,'' and emphasized its “beauty graphics and music.''
He now hopes the work will “reach a wide audience and put Cuba on the video game map” around the world.
