Jade Raymond not doing I Am Alive

By Tom Bramwell Published 7 January, 2009

"At any level". Plus, it's first-person.

Ubisoft has told Eurogamer that "Jade Raymond is not involved in I Am Alive at any level" after reports based on a magazine preview.

Assassin's Creed producer Raymond was originally linked with the game prior to its E3 2008 reveal, but a new preview in gamesTM poured cold water on that.

Developed by Cold Fear outfit Darkworks, I Am Alive is a survival game set in Chicago in the aftermath of an unexplained earthquake. It's due out for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC at an undisclosed date.

In a trailer unveiled at E3 last year, player character Adam Collins is shown facing off with desperate fellow survivors over a bottle of water.

However, senior producer Alexis Goddard told gamesTM (thanks 1UP) that the game is played from the first-person perspective - in order to heighten players' emotional reaction to set-pieces and other events.

Weapons do play a part, but apparently more for distraction. For example, you can use an empty shotgun to scare off looters. Goddard is quoted as saying "tactics, diversion, and discretion" are encouraged, and preferable to confrontation, which "will rarely be rewarded".

The ultimate goal for players is to find Adam's girlfriend, Alice, assuming she's survived.

Expect to hear more about I Am Alive now that Ubisoft's broken the seal.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (49) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • ZuluHero #1 3 years ago

    I'm looking forward to hearing more about this game this year - but hell, this is a bit of a non-story isn't it? Good to know that poor old Jade is "still alive" though ;)
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/09 @ 09:31

  • DFawkes #2 3 years ago

    Ah, I remember the mention of Jade Raymond in every article relating to Asssassins Creed, I even expect them to rename it "Jade Raymond Presents: Assassins Creed". A cynical person might think it was to distract from the game itself, but not me :p

    I actually love Assassins Creed, but it wasn't what I expected at all (in a good way). Hoping for the same surprise in I Am Alive.

    Zulu is right, this isn't a story. I think Peter Molyneux isn't working on it either. Or Miyamoto. Or Suda 51. In fact, I could do quite a large list of people that aren't developing that game.
    Edited by 2 at 07/01/09 @ 09:34

  • alpha-0ne #3 3 years ago

    Looks good

  • oupe #4 3 years ago

    And why should anybody care about this Jade person? Does she automagically make games better?

  • spekkeh #5 3 years ago

    She's not involved because she's too busy doing that playboy spread?

  • YourMessageHere #6 3 years ago

    This reminds me of Wag The Dog. Jade Raymond is categorically not involved in this upcoming first-person atmosphere-em-up no-one has ever heard of until this press release.

    I for one welcome opportunities to play games in first person without necessarily shooting people. Much though I enjoy shooting people, I nonetheless feel first person as a basic game mechanic isn't really well explored in terms of what you can do without seeing the world from behind a weapon, unless it's a frantic hunt for one. That said, I bet this game will still eventually have you doing it for far longer than it makes out here. Also, I bet aliens or monsters are involved, given that it's a mysterious earthquake and not a perfectly explicable one - have to wonder whether that will actually be in any way important, or whether this ends up as another waste of a good idea by adding egregious aliens and monsters.

  • PlugMonkey #7 3 years ago

    And why should anybody care about this Jade person? Does she automagically make games better?

    Because she a GIRL! She has lady-boobs and everything!!!!!1!!!1!pne!1!!
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/09 @ 09:59

  • mkreku #8 3 years ago

    But what IS Jade Raymond doing at the moment then? I wouldn't mind seeing more of her.

  • PanStre #9 3 years ago

    (Sigh) Another supposed Spring release for which there is still no solid release date.

  • Eraysor #10 3 years ago

    Presumably this earthquake in Chicago will be due to aliens, terrorists or government conspiracies considering it's a pretty rare location for tectonic activity.

  • menage #11 3 years ago

    So, it's Fallout without guns then?

    This has to get some really stellar scores if I'm ever going to play it. Seems like the ultimate Ubisoft game. Huge free roaming world without anything to do or interact with. Still you never know.

  • roz123 #12 3 years ago

    Sounds like a good concept. although i dunno how much it would actually translate to being an enjoyable experience. Hopefully they get the balance right and your not just dressing up to scare off beggers.

  • Derblington #13 3 years ago

    "But what IS Jade Raymond doing at the moment then? I wouldn't mind seeing more of her."

    Assassins Creed 2, most likely.

  • Cappy #14 3 years ago

    The revelation that this plays in first person is the kiss of death. The trailers made it look like third person, scratch another game from the list.

  • kinky_mong #15 3 years ago

    Despite the fact she is not involved this won't stop every article on this non-news (apart from this one obviously) featuring a picture of her because she's a attractive woman in an industry full of troglodyte looking men.

  • peterfll #16 3 years ago

    I'm so glad we get to know what this woman is not doing.

  • hiddenranbir #17 3 years ago

    What has Jade actually done? "Lead Producer" means little to me. What has there been on the way that helped her climb to the top?

    You know, like Sid Meier has a clear portfolio of work that was eventually led up to Civilization, etc.
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/09 @ 10:40

  • DFawkes #18 3 years ago

    <a ref="http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/d eveloperId,116574/">Some stuff she's done</a href>. Not the best source in the world, but it's something. Is very ambiguous though.

    Whoa, link went strangle. Feel free to cpoy and paste - http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/d eveloperId,116574/
    Just her profile on mobygames, but apparently she worked on The Sims Online, which I'm sure we all know went swimmingly.
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/09 @ 10:51

  • HiredMan #19 3 years ago

    I want to have sex with Jade Raymond.

  • HermitArcader #20 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • hiddenranbir #21 3 years ago

    Crikey, not that impressive. I looked on wiki and her programming credits are on Trivial pursuit...

    I think I'm happy with my impression on how she got promoted. How unfair I am on poor Jade.

  • patchbox360 #22 3 years ago

    if you don't like jade ur gay

  • Tonka #23 3 years ago

    I'm not doing it either. Now EG, can you do a piece on how I'm not doing it? I can even do one of your live chat interviews.

  • penhalion #24 3 years ago

    @patchbox360

    If you wanted Jade to do this game then you are not a gamer. She may be pretty but, she makes crap games. Her stuff is all show and repetition. Assasins creed could have been so much more than it was if they'd given it to the sands of time guy instead of her.

  • HermitArcader #25 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • sneetch #26 3 years ago

    @Vertical Stand
    "@HiredMan which makes myself and others ashamed to be videogame fans."

    In that case I think you and those others should learn to differentiate between others and yourself. Do you feel ashamed to be a human every time you hear about a murder? You shouldn't. Those people committing murder aren't you. Unless they are. Then you really should be ashamed and you will be stopped. ;)

    @Tonka
    "I'm not doing it either. Now EG, can you do a piece on how I'm not doing it? I can even do one of your live chat interviews."

    I heard from sources close to Ubisoft that you definitely are doing it. I can offer EG an exclusive exposé.

  • DFawkes #27 3 years ago

    I personally find Jade attractive (especailly the accent), nothing wrong with that.

    I personally loved Assassins Creed too. Nothing wrong with that either. I'm not sure precisely what she did on the project, but given how much I enjoy Creed I think I can assume she didn't smash the project to bits one-handed.
    Edited by 1 at 07/01/09 @ 11:50

  • dingo75 #28 3 years ago

    @sneetch:

    I'm indeed ashamed of being part of humanity...

    Some other news:
    Jade didn't have sex with me (yet).
    Will update you if something evolves concerning this story. ;)

    The game sounds interesting but Ubi needs to deliver more of course to be able to judge it.

  • bushwod #29 3 years ago

    Ahhhh, but they haven't said if Tera Patrick is working on it or not!

    I reckon she probably is as she did such a bang up job on Saint's Row 2.

  • sneetch #30 3 years ago

    @dingo75
    "@sneetch:

    I'm indeed ashamed of being part of humanity...

    Some other news:
    Jade didn't have sex with me (yet).
    Will update you if something evolves concerning this story. ;)

    The game sounds interesting but Ubi needs to deliver more of course to be able to judge it."

    To be honest I can understand how being a member of humanity could be considered shameful, that's why I seceded from the species.

    The trailer looked promising. I liked the look of it. I was wondering what happened to the rest of the world during this crisis though. Surely if it was just Chicago this disaster happened to then the entire US nation would be rushing to help out...

    /remembers New Orleans

    ... or maybe not.

  • PearOfAnguish #31 3 years ago

    "I think I'm happy with my impression on how she got promoted. How unfair I am on poor Jade."

    Careful now. I hope you're not suggesting Jade Raymond was nothing but a pretty spokesperson cynically promoted in order to win the support of horny teenagers. You'll have Kieron Gillen on here going on about how you're really sexist and everything.

  • HermitArcader #32 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • Pinewood_Groves #33 3 years ago

    I think this game would be great if there WASN'T some stupid supernatural reason for the earthquake. Unfortunately, there inevitably will be.

  • lambtron #34 3 years ago

    I was just thinking that it was great we no longer hear about her.

    Oh wait.

  • bad09 #35 3 years ago

    1st person? Hmmm, I was hoping for an SOS 3rd person style game not ANOTHER 1st person game.

    / I Am Alive goes down my want list a little....

  • Dark_Stranger #36 3 years ago

    personally I think this Jade Goody that you are all on about is an uneducated, raciest blimp, where as Jade Raymond is buff.

  • Santino #37 3 years ago

    i bet jade raymond has the same purpose that tera patrick did as a special producer on SR2, but we don't hear more from EG about what she is not doing!

  • konniehuqfan #38 3 years ago

    anita sinclair > jade raymond

  • sneetch #39 3 years ago

    @Vertical Stand
    "@Sneetch because it was indicative of the values of many gamers, and developers, and as a result the games that are being developed for gamers.

    Your OTT examples don't stop me from feeling that I don't want to be associated with certain views, such as when I was playing MGS4 online European beta and found myself in a game with someone who was a member of a Neo-Nazi clan with a Swastika clan logo, and how everyone else hadn't thought of reporting it, or even see what the problem was..."

    I can completely understand why you don't want to be associated with such things, hell I wouldn't either. I simply said that you shouldn't feel "ashamed" by the actions of others. Nor should you feel that their actions reflect badly on you just because you happen to share a past-time. Should we feel ashamed to like football because some thugs riot during a match? Or should we expect all football fans to act like thugs because some do? No, that's insane.

    Basically, my point is that you should ascribe these traits to the individuals that have them and not label the entire group. That kind of "tarring people with the same brush" is nearly always bad.

  • smelly #40 3 years ago

    WHY THE FUCK DOES IT MATTER IF SHE IS OR ISNT INVOLVED?!?

    She's the FUCKING PRODUCER!!! Nothing more nothing less.

    That's a glorified project manager.

    i.e. all a producer does is manage the schedule and buy people pizza when they're working late.

    But yet games journalists like to wank over her picture, so any game with her involvement gets shit loads of publicity. You would've thought the games industry would've "grown up" enough by now that just because you had a attractive woman on your team doing nothing really important that the games press gets all fucking excited and runs out to buy a box of kleenex.

    is it any wonder not many women get into game development?

  • sneetch #41 3 years ago

    I think a lot of the games industry would disagree with your interpretation of the Producer role, smelly.

    [link url=h ttp://www.eurocom.co.uk/index.php/careers/producer
    ]http://ww w.eurocom.co.uk/index.php/caree...[/link]

    The Producer

    The Producer manages the games development process from a design orientated perspective working closely with the team leads and Project Manager. The Producer also works closely with the publisher to incorporate their design goals and ideas for the game and ensure these ideas are realistic for the team to develop.

    At the beginning of a project a Producer will be heavily involved (sometimes in the dual role of lead designer) in idea and concept evaluation for the game design and making tough decisions about what goes into the game and what gets left out. When this process has been completed the Producer will have not only created the game design but also a vision of the game to guide the team. The game design will also evolve over the project lifecycle and the Producer needs to make sure that game evolves in the right direction staying consistent with the vision of the game. The Producer must be able to evaluate the impact all changes will have on the game and carefully consider these.

    As well as creating the game design the Producer is also ultimately responsible for evaluating all assets and gameplay and making sure these meet the quality standards required by Eurocom and the Publisher. A good Producer needs to have good people skills and be very hands on with the development team, providing them with guidance and design direction to make sure they have accurately interpreted the game design.

    A Producer needs to have a wide range of skills - they need to be able to negotiate game ideas with the publisher, listen to ideas from the team, keep the game vision focused, get the team excited about the game design and be comfortable and enthusiastic about working on all areas of the game.

    The Producers position is one of the most challenging in games development and is very rewarding when you finally see the finished game on the shelf.

  • smelly #42 3 years ago

    @sneetch: Oh yeah.. they make coffee too.


    "I think a lot of the games industry would disagree with your interpretation of the Producer role, smelly"

    Having worked in the industry.. no.. they wouldnt.. unless they were a producer.

  • smelly #43 3 years ago

    Erm.. Eurocom must do things different to the rest of the industry.. That sounds more like a description for a "head of design" role.

  • bonker #44 3 years ago

    "What has Jade actually done? "Lead Producer" means little to me. What has there been on the way that helped her climb to the top? "

    Producers tend to just 'arrive' - same in any industry that has 'producer' positions - film industry etc.

    They tend to be people from monied backgrounds who know the right people but have little if any discernable talent themselves and typically contribute absolutely SFA to anything produced 'under' them ...

  • Bumhug360 #45 3 years ago

    Anyone looked at her official site?

    "Videogame enthousiasts were having game icons like Mario, Link, Sam Fisher or the Prince from Prince of Persia. That was the past.

    Today, there is a new modern icon and she is taking the videogame industry by storm. Her name, Jade Raymond, game producer. How not to fall in love with this new gaming icon? Well, first of all, you got to admit it, she's very beautiful... strikingly beautiful. Her beauty is just the tip of the iceberg though, there's alot more to her, that is her wonderful personnality and her immense charisma.

    There's no way you won't get seduced by her personality, she's magnetic. Jade really like people and it shows, she is very comfortable when she gives interviews and her naturalness and simplicity in front of the camera is astonishing.

    The forever smiling and laughing Jade is still the same humble and warm Montreal girl."

    Yes I get the impression she is humble as well......


    Hmm just noticed the link i followed to what claimed to be an official site, is infact an official unofficial site. I missed that bit through tears of laughter, jokes not so funny now :(

    Edited by 1 at 07/01/09 @ 18:39

  • xAx #46 3 years ago

    Did no one here watch Cloverfield?

  • Nostromo13 #47 3 years ago

    I'd give her a pat on the back…side

  • ExplodingClown #48 3 years ago

    O Killcreek, where art thou?

  • lambtron #49 3 years ago

    I have to agree with Smelly here - there is something VERY wrong with that Eurocom definition of a Producer.