By: Nick Gambino
After hundreds, if not thousands, of iterations of Shakespeare over several centuries, it’s now time for a whole new way to experience the works of the most famous writer of all time.
In collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), game developer iNK Stories is making a video game based on The Tragedy of Macbeth. The interactive video game will be called Lili and will use the original play as a jumping off point to retell it in modern times.
“Players will be immersed in a stylized, neo-noir vision of modern Iran, where surveillance and authoritarianism are part of daily life,” the announcement reads. “The gameplay will feature a blend of live-action cinema within an interactive game format, giving players the chance to immerse themselves in the world of Lady Macbeth and make choices that influence her destiny.”
Lili (the Lady Macbeth role) will be played by Iranian actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi who had an award-winning turn in the 2022 Persian-language film Holy Spider. Amir herself was the victim of an authoritarian system, forcing her to flee Iran to France in 2008 where she has lived in exile ever since.
As the title of the original play by Shakesapeare suggests, this story is a tragedy. The difference in this adaptation is that you can make choices that allow you to influence Lili’s future. There is not a lot of other information on the video game, but the interactive element suggests that maybe you can change it to something more hopeful by the end.
Obviously a version of the story set in modern-day Iran means a lot of other aspects of Macbeth have to change. For example, instead of three witches who prophesy the king’s future, there are three hackers filling these roles.
Expect Lili to be released some time in 2025 and on multiple gaming platforms.
