Episode 21 - Interview with Rocket Adrift: Avoiding “The Button” and Creating Authentic Queer Characters

In the first segment, I discuss the PlayStation State of Play and all the games shown off, including “Sonic Racing CrossWorlds,” “Borderlands 4,” “Darwin’s Paradox,” and “Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.”

Then later on I’m joined by Toronto-based developer Rocket Adrift — Sloane Smith, Lindsay Rollins, and Titus McNally — for an in-depth interview on “Psychroma” and “Raptor Boyfriend: A High School Romance.”

Rocket Adrift are a team of trans, black, and neurodivergent game devs, and their games heavily reflect the diversity and experiences of their team.

We discuss what made Raptor Boyfriend (a visual novel dating sim) and Psychroma (a psychological horror side-scroller) so different, the inspiration behind the cyberpunk themes in Psychroma, what it’s like to localize a game into 16 different languages, and much more — they even tease their next game!

 

00:00:00 - PlayStation State of Play

00:31:14 - Interview with Rocket Adrift

 

This episode was recorded on February 13 and 16 2025.

 

***SPOILERS for Psychroma***

 

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQtPbTOhLEc&ab_channel=PlayStation

https://blog.playstation.com/2025/02/12/sonic-racing-crossworlds-gameplay-revealed-new-mechanics-detailed/

https://www.sonicstadium.org/news/games/sonic-racing-crossworlds-to-have-largest-sonic-racer-roster-including-sage-will-have-sega-characters-r2817/