The biggest rock bands of the ’80s and ’90s, including Journey, Queen, Mötley Crüe, Aerosmith, Metallica, and more, achieved certain cultural significance beyond music, video and touring. Some of these arena lockers have built video games around themselves in ways that don’t actually happen, often to get mixed results. A big musician appears now Fortnite or Defeat Saber Or with mobile games built around a brand.
However, one indie developer is trying to get back a rock band-inspired video game. Nicola Piovesan, head of Chaosmonger Studio, has turned long-standing appeal into a game for the band Voivod. Voivod: Nuclear Warrior.
If you’ve never heard of Voivod, you haven’t been dialed into the Canadian slash and speed metal scene in the last 40 years. Seriously, I understand that. Voivod has never seen the global level of commercial success for Metallica or Aerosmith. However, the Quebec-based group is a venerable and influential band across multiple metal genres, with a particular artistic aesthetic and mascot, The Voivod, as well as other notable metallurgical acts (Megadeth, Iron Maiden).
The character Voivod is the creation of Michel “Away” Langevin, drummer of the band Voivod. Langebin’s post-nuclear fiction star, conveyed through album art and other illustrations, came from a dark world of sci-fi fantasy known as Morgoth. Ranjubin is responsible for almost all of Voivod’s artwork, and his clear, illustrative and musical style has long influenced Piovesan.
Image: Chaosmonger Studio
“I’ve been listening to the band since I was a teenager,” Piovesan said in an interview with passthecontroller. “I was like a metalhead back then. I listen to almost every genre now, but Voivod is one of the bands I’ve listened to for many years.
Ranjubin was the only consistent member of Voivod since its formation in 1982. He is responsible for the visual aesthetics of a band, usually filled with dark science fiction images rendered with ink, markers and paint. The Voivod characters appear on many album covers, including the band’s debut. War and pain.
Piovesan is set to adapt to the world of Morgoth, the character Voivod, and the world of many strange alien creatures that Langevin has created over the past 40 years. Voivod: Nuclear WarriorMetroidvania style run and gunnarrative game.
During his previous career as a filmmaker, Piovasan directed the animated video for Voivod’s song “Target Earth.” He had the idea for a Voivod game “for a long time,” Piovesan said. “In the meantime, I shifted my career from the film industry to the gaming industry, and during that time I released a few games and thought I was thinking. Okay, now is the right time to play voivod games.so I mentioned this to them at a concert in Prague a few years ago. ”
“I started working slowly and concretely last year,” Piovesan said, and he approached the band on the pitch to make it official. “They knew me from the music videos I made for them, so they were very happy. I shared (some screenshots and game concepts) with Michelle and they were on the idea right away.”
Piovesan said the pitch in his Voivod game was “a little retro in style.” This is something like retro pixel graphics inspired by the era of Voivod, a game of the late ’80s, early ’90s, when the group released their most popular albums. (Piovesan grew up playing Amiga Games, including Motörhead Beat-‘-em-Up, playing as Lemmy Kilmister. Their influence is evident in the visual style of Voivod games.)
Voivod: Nuclear Warrior According to Piovesan, it follows the storyline of the band’s concept album, but has been slightly altered to fit “a more standard game story.” Voivod is Metroidvania style and changes shapes and gains new powers over the course of the game.
“The idea is that he is awakened to this kind of nightmare (of Vivod) and that he has to regain a piece of his heart,” Piovasan said. “Therefore, each level has essentially different fragments. So there is exploration, battle, storytelling. We also interact with the NPCs to understand more about the story. Once all the fragments are collected, the characters can escape this kind of universe nightmare mentioned in the lyrics of the concept album.”
Image: Chaosmonger Studio
Piovesan is funding his Voivod Passion project through Kickstarter. For his fundraising campaign Voivod: Nuclear Warrior He’s already successful, but he has some stretch goals. Piovesan handles the design and coding of the game, working with a small team of artists and musicians to adapt Voivod’s artwork and music to the shape of retro games.
He also works closely with the band. While Rangebin contributes to the game’s visual design and artwork, guitarist Daniel “Thuney” Mongrein oversees the musical adaptation. Singer Dennis “Snake” Bellanger provides the voice of the main character. And we’ll provide playtests and gameplay feedback for bassist Dominique “Rocky” LaRoche.
Voivod: Nuclear Warrior It’s the early stages of development. Piovesan’s Kickstarter campaign lists the November 2026 release date, but it sounds like it’s something like “when ready.” “When I ask people when the game is ready, it’s always hard to reply because I’m not doing this for the money,” he said. “I’m a fan of the band. For me, it’s important to first create a good game and pay tribute to the world of Voivod.
“I learned that to make a game, it takes two years to make 90% of the game and two more years to make the final 10%,” he said. “in the case of voivodI hope that’s not what it was for four years. ”
