Jason Isaacs, David Hewlett Among Voice Cast of Venice Expanded VR-Bound Sci-Fi Game ‘The Last Worker’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Jason Isaacs (“The Death of Stalin”), Olafur Darri Olafsson (“The Deep”), Clare-Hope Ashitey (“Children of Men”) and
David Hewlett (“The Shape of Water”) lead the voice cast of “The Last Worker,” which is world premiering at Venice in the competitive VR Expanded section.

“The Last Worker” is directed and produced by Jörg Tittel at Oiffy, whose upcoming credits include “A Winter’s Journey” with John Malkovich and Martina Gedeck.

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The only video game to play at Venice as part of the VR Expanded lineup, “The Last Worker” is a first-person dystopian narrative adventure that puts the player in the body of Kurt. The last human worker in a fulfilment centre, Kurt has dedicated his life to Jüngle Corporation and hasn’t seen the outside world in 25 years, but when a group of activists ask him to help dismantle Jüngle from the inside, he faces unexpected consequences.

The science-fiction game, developed by VR company Wolf & Wood (“A Chair in the Room”) and published by Wired Productions, blends hand-crafted 2D animation with immersive 3D. Tittel said he and his team recorded over 200 pages of dialogue with the cast. Belgrade-based Subgiant Studio created the animation. Mike McMahon, the British comics artist behind “Judge Dredd” created the concept and art direction for the game.

“It has been my lifelong dream to see one of my stories in the Biennale, but who knew that it would be with a VR game! It is truly beautiful that the world’s oldest film festival is at the forefront of celebrating the future of storytelling,” said Tittel, who added that only the first chapter of the game is playing at Venice, while the full game is expected to have its world premiere at Tribeca and/or South by Southwest.

Isaacs said “’The Last Worker’ felt entirely unlike every game I’ve played or been a part of. The characters were human and complicated and funny, the story was poignant and personal and, yes, the game-playing was addictive and fun.

“All round, it felt fresh, creative and original. When was the last time you had a helper bot from Liverpool?! The creator, Jorg, is a risk-taking nerd of the highest order,” said Isaacs.

“The Last Worker” will be released in 2022 on Oculus Quest 2 / Quest, Steam VR, Steam, Epic Games Store, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

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