One of the most talented platformer developers in the current era of gaming is Fabraz, an indie studio who has cooked up the Demon Turf and Demon Tides games, and who will soon expand further by bringing back Bubsy in the anticipated Bubsy 4D.
Launching on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch on May 22, with launch getting closer by the day, we recently had the chance to speak with Fabraz founder and Bubsy 4D lead developer, Fabian Rastorfer, to learn more about the incoming title and the studio's stance on incorporating artificial intelligence into its works.
"We don't use any LLMs or GenAI in development and generally are quite opposed to GenAI. We love the process of creation and we're pretty certain our players want to see what WE create, not what some diffusion model can spit out."
Bubsy 4D is the latest chapter in the wider story of the platforming icon who has slightly fallen from favour in the modern era, in a similar way to a plethora of other platforming legends. As for why now is the prime period for Bubsy to make a comeback, Rastorfer also told us the following.
"I'm not sure if it's the perfect time for it but I do think the stars aligned in a way where it feels right! Atari approached it the right way and the project fell into our laps at just the right time for us to be struck by inspiration.
"The old bobcat has been around for a while, and has even tried to come back twice before to varying degrees of success, so we're just happy to carry on the torch and continue the legacy of this incredibly fascinating series!"
You can see our full interview with Rastorfer here, for more on the game's philosophy to difficulty and speedrunning.