"We tried something different": Looking back on SiN Episodes: Emergence, the Valve-backed shooter that tried and failed to kick off an age of episodic gaming

On May 10, 2006, Ritual Entertainment released SiN Episodes: Emergence, the first of nine episodes set in the sci-fi megalopolis of Freeport City. Backed by Valve and launched on Steam just a month before Valve's own Half-Life 2: Episode 1, the game felt like it was the start of something new. Ritual even had Gabe Newell singing their significance, saying in Emergence's launch day press release that "With the release of SiN Episodes: Emergence Ritual is leading the industry's long overdue migration to producing episodic content." Valve famously released just two Half-Life episodes before stalling. Ritual only ever managed one. But, as I learned when talking to some of its creators, SiN Episodes: Emergence is much more than a hiccup in the history of gaming, it was a title torn between the old publishing traditions of the 90s and newly emerging technologies of the 00s. They also told me about the time they "faked the shit out of" all the screenshots for a PC Gamer exclusive.