When beat-’em-up action thriller Boy kills the world hits theaters later this month, it will appear alongside something of a modern rarity: a day-and-date video game tie-in. In case of Boy kills the worldstarring Bill Skarsgård as the titular Boy and The robbery‘s Yayan Ruhian as his martial arts mentor, the licensed game is Super Dragon Force Punch 3an original fighting game based on the film.
Which contributes to the uniqueness of the connection, Super Dragon Force Punch 3 serves as the film’s fictional video game sequel, Super Dragon Force Punch 2 – the game on which the character of Skarsgård, who becomes deaf during the events of the film, bases his inner voice. For the real sequel, Super Dragon Force Punch 3‘s creators strive for more than just a promotional connection. They develop the game to be competitive and updated regularly.
Super Dragon Force Punch 3 will be released in open beta on April 26 for Windows PCs and mobile platforms. It is the debut title from Talent Digital Art, a developer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The fighting game roster features some of the film’s leads, including Skarsgård’s Boy and Jessica Rothe’s June 27, among a handful of others. The gameplay trailer for SDFP3 shows off the characters SK, Yazya, Marlo, Jace and Deb as part of the roster.
Talent Digital Art was founded in 2019, the studio’s creative director Matthew-Judd Fitzjohn told Polygon in an interview. The developer has been given access to the script for Boy kills the world and thought, Fitzjohn said, “wouldn’t it be such a cool opportunity if we deepened the experience and immersion of this universe by actually building out the really cool-sounding but fake game in the movie.”
“It’s really about each thing being its own thing,” he explained, “but hopefully it gives the consumer, or at least someone who’s going to watch the movie as well as play the game – and we encourage you to to do both – a deeper emotional experience. in terms of the world we are trying to create.”
The goal, says TDA CEO Tanya Brits, is “to create games that are effortlessly enjoyable” and to express the identity and interests of the multicultural South African team. “We wanted to give ourselves enough creative freedom so that we can develop really cool fighting mechanics that are difficult to master, but also make the game easy to learn,” said Britten.
Super Dragon Force Punch 3 is designed to be picked up and played, Fitzjohn said, and is free to play. “Our hope and desire for the game is really just to open it up to people who might not necessarily be able to experience fighting games because maybe the box price is just a little bit too high,” Fitzjohn said.
The developers behind it SDFP3 also strive for depth.
“We’re very passionate about working with the (fighting game community) to build this out,” Fitzjohn said. “And they are such a great community, super passionate, but also so willing to give their feedback, both the local members of the FGC and international members.
“We try to keep a technical level that encourages you to spend time with the character and get to know them, but we also try to present all the mechanics in a way that I can jump right in with (friends) and just press a few buttons can bash and have some fun.”
The story of Boy kills the world, the film, sends Skarsgård’s Boy on a quest for revenge against Famke Janssen’s Hilda Van Der Koy, who is described by the film’s creators as a “deranged matriarch of a corrupt post-apocalyptic dynasty.” Guided by Yayan Ruhian’s shaman character, Boy battles Van Der Koy’s henchmen in hyper-violent martial arts battles and joins a resistance group. The film also stars Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Sharlto Copley (District 9), Andrew Koji (Warrior), and H. Jon Benjamin (as Boy’s inner voice).
Boy kills the world hits theaters April 26. Super Dragon Force Punch 3 is expected to be available in an open beta form on Steam and mobile app stores the same day.