Eric Chahi

Overview

Eric Chahi spent two years creating Another World alone, handling programming, art, animation, and design. The result revolutionised game storytelling—no text, no HUD, just pure visual narrative. His rotoscoping technique and commitment to atmosphere over mechanics influenced generations of developers from Flashback to Limbo.

Fast facts

Born: 1967, France.
Key work: Another World (1991).
Development time: 2 years solo.
Tools: Custom polygon animation system.

Another World (1991)

Aspect	Innovation
Visual style	Vector-based rotoscoped characters
Narrative	No dialogue, pure visual storytelling
Cinematics	Seamless cutscene integration
Atmosphere	Mood over gameplay mechanics

Development approach

Chahi created everything:

Custom game engine
Rotoscoped protagonist from video reference
Polygon-based graphics for animation flexibility
Sound design and music integration

Technical innovation

The polygon system allowed:

Smooth character animation
Cinematic camera angles
Memory-efficient storage
Consistent visual style

Earlier work

Title	Year	Role
Infernal Runner	1985	Designer/programmer
Le Pacte	1986	Designer/programmer
Voyage au Centre de la Terre	1988	Designer/programmer

Design philosophy

Principle	Application
Authorship	Single creative vision
Atmosphere	Feeling over features
Simplicity	Minimal interface
Trust player	No hand-holding

Influence

Another World directly inspired:

Flashback (Delphine Software)
Heart of Darkness (Chahi’s follow-up)
Prince of Persia aesthetic
Limbo, Inside, Abe’s Oddysee

Heart of Darkness (1998)

Chahi’s follow-up:

6 years development
Team-based (unlike solo Another World)
Similar cinematic approach
Technical showcase

Later work

Project	Year
From Dust	2011
Paper Beast	2020

Shifted to god games and VR experiences while maintaining auteur approach.

Recognition

GDC Classic Game Postmortem presenter
Cited as influence by indie developers
Another World rereleased across platforms
Anniversary editions with developer commentary

Cinematic visionary