Lucas Pope, the developer behind acclaimed indie games Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn, is holding back details on his current projects, fearing they might be 'slurped up by AI.' In a recent discussion on the Mike & Rami Are Still Here podcast with No More Robots co-founder Mike Rose and Vlambeer co-founder Rami Ismail, Pope opened up about his career and future plans. He expressed a desire to share his creative process but now feels hesitant in today's climate.
'But I also like to talk about the stuff I’m working on, and I think, just now, the situation just feels different to me,' Pope said. 'You don’t really talk about stuff when you’re working on it, because I don’t know that it’s going to get slurped up by AI or people are going to copy it, or something else like that. It’s not a hard rule. It’s just I got a feeling about that. And I just didn’t feel as comfortable talking about the stuff I was working on again. So I hope that sort of breaks, and I can feel comfortable talking about the stuff I’m working on.'
Describing himself as a 'production-focused' developer who aims to deliver finished products, Pope also voiced concerns about matching the high standards set by his previous hits. Papers, Please launched in 2013 and Return of the Obra Dinn in 2018, both widely regarded as standout games of the 2010s, with Return of the Obra Dinn ranking 74th on IGN's all-time top 100 list.
In 2024, Pope released Mars After Midnight, a Playdate-exclusive title that garnered its own fanbase, but he remains cautious about overextending his success. 'There’s also the sense that I was pretty happy with Obra Dinn and Papers, Please, and maybe I can’t do it again?' Pope explained. 'Do I really want to maybe just go out on a high note? Why drag myself down with the next thing that people may not like? I feel lucky with those two games. I can do the same things again. I can sort of focus on narrative, and gameplay, and mechanics, and stuff like that, but who knows? It could be a total miss.'
Pope has kept quiet about his next project, and these concerns may explain his silence. While fans await his next move, you can check out our reviews: Papers, Please scored 8.7/10 and Return of the Obra Dinn 9.2/10.
