If you remember Stage 9, you know it was a pretty ambitious project. The goal was to recreate every deck and every room of the USS Enterprise-D. A massive undertaking, sure; but definitely doable. After the development team was served with a Cease & Desist order from CBS, things went on hold for quite some time.
I can recall sitting on their Discord server just waiting for any updates on what their next project would be. Then, the big news hit! Stage 9 has been renamed to Messy Desk Interactive and has entered discussions with a major studio for their next IP-based game. A few rumors were floating about: Battlestar Galactica, Stargate Universe, official talks with CBS, The Orville, and even Doctor Who was brought up briefly.
Everything was definitely looking up and the team was just itching to reveal their latest endeavor. Due to the nature of the project, everything had to be kept secret. About a month ago, the development team was given the green light to post "teasers" of the project. Here are a few of the teasers:
Would you have guessed what the new game was going to be about based on those screenshots?
The hype was definitely building. Members of the Messy Desk Discord server posted reactions to the screenshots as "Orville" and heavily speculated on what the next game was going to be. Messy Desk Interactive posted a link to https://orvillefangame.co.uk, which showed a very blurry video walkthrough of some sort of spacecraft. Those who watch The Orville regularly knew immediately what it was. On May 20, 2019, Messy Desk Interactive released their announcement trailer for the new Orville game, which is absolutely amazing!
Finally, to top it all off, Seth MacFarlane himself had this to say about The Orville Fan Experience:
What do you think about this project? When it comes out, will you download it and run around The Orville? I know I definitely will!
WRITTEN & EDITED by Elnian