This pitch-to-be was created by Jacob Janerka, creator of another weird adventure game Paradigm, and pixel animation expert Ivan Dixon. Apparently the two are longtime Seinfeld fans. “Seinfeld has a surprisingly rich world,” they say. “There are so many memorable recurring characters, plot lines and locations as the four protagonists navigate new relationships, jobs and rivals.” Instead of rehashing familiar episodes, Janerka and Dixon say they want to create some new Seinfeld-y plots. Their favorite idea? The plot of their pitch page involves Jerry wanting to dump his new publicist girlfriend after she accidentally CCs instead of BCCs him into an email chain where his digital address is inadvertently shared with rival comedian Kenny Bania. Yup, that scans as a Jerry Seinfeld plot to me. They think that classic adventure game inventory puzzles and dialogue will be a natural fit for the everyday situations of Seinfeld. They intend for the game to be played as 30-minute episodes each with a three-act plot like the show. The two say they’ve had this idea in their back pocket for quite some time. Janerka has been tweeting progress on the silly side project for years as a way to take a break from developing previous game Paradigm. Does anybody actually want a Seinfeld game, or does the fun begin and end with a laugh at pixelated Jerry Seinfeld walking around to some ba-doom-scats? Well, they plan to find out. The new trailer video is an appeal to the wider internet to garner support before they attempt to bend the ear of Seinfeld license-holders. “We believe that pitching to the internet will show the demand for such a game, which will provide a better chance of this becoming a thing than us just sending a cold email,” they say. “We want our email to be warm, if that makes any sense.” Yonks back before smart phones and social media, licenced games had a well-earned reputation for being absolute garbage. Movies and pop stars alike thought they could put games into production as easily as an action figure to grab some sweet merchandising cash but that rarely panned out. Nowadays we’ve got slightly better fare like the Southpark RPGs, Middle Earth games, and, oh, The Witcher. Maybe a Seinfeld game by some very dedicated fans could wind up in the same company. You can read more of the pitch on the (as yet unofficial) Seinfeld Game site.
