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Cyan Working on Modern 3D Remake of Riven

On October 31st, 25 years ago, Riven: The Sequel to Myst was released, and it became an instant classic. Riven was known for its aesthetic realism, cohesive puzzle integration, and narrative depth, which made it feel like a real place instead of just a game. These features have allowed Riven's legacy to endure through the years. Although there had been no official Cyan remake of Riven, there was a grassroots effort started by dedicated fans 13 years ago.

This group, called the "The Starry Expanse Project", took it upon themselves to begin the faithful recreation of Riven in a fully-realized realtime-3D environment. This was no easy feat and took many years of camera-matching efforts and texture comparisons to what the original Riven still-image renders displayed. Cyan finally had the resources to tackle remaking Riven a couple of years ago. They reached an agreement with the Starry Expanse team, which allowed them to reference core pieces of their efforts to jump-start the development. Subsequently, they ceased development on The Starry Expanse Project, and Cyan's official efforts to remake Riven began.

Some questions from the community have come up since then: "Was the Starry Expanse team absorbed by Cyan?" "Is the Starry Expanse team still in charge of the remake of Riven?" "Is Cyan keeping the Starry Expanse team trapped in the basement?" to all of which the answers are "no". The Starry Expanse Project team members are alive and exist independently from Cyan. Over the past couple of years, Cyan has worked with and continued to stay in contact with various members of the Starry Expanse team and has even hired one of their members to join the Riven team at Cyan.

Cyan is working on a modern remake of Riven, one of the most highly regarded games in the studio's history. The remake of Riven will be fully traversable in 3D space. Any other supported navigation methods will be announced at a later date. As Cyan is a small indie studio, the team wanted to make sure they could take on such a complex, costly and complicated endeavor – and do it well. The Starry Expanse Project team assisted in kicking off this project. However, this is a from-the-ground-up remake of Riven from Cyan.

At this time, they don't have information to share about platforms or release date yet. However, the best way to keep up with the development process is to subscribe to the Cyan Insider newsletter.

WHERE CAN I DOWNLOAD Riven: The Sequel to Myst

Riven: The Sequel to Myst is available at:

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