Ideas worth spreading

How video games turn players into storytellers

832,683 views |

David Cage |

TED2018

• April 2018

Have you ever watched a film or read a novel, wishing that you could change the narrative to save your favorite character? Game designer David Cage allows you do just that in his video games, where players make decisions that shape an ever-changing plot. In a talk and live demo, Cage presents a scene from his new project, letting the audience control a character's decisions. "Interactive storytelling can be what cinema was in the 20th century: an art that deeply changes its time," Cage says.

Have you ever watched a film or read a novel, wishing that you could change the narrative to save your favorite character? Game designer David Cage allows you do just that in his video games, where players make decisions that shape an ever-changing plot. In a talk and live demo, Cage presents a scene from his new project, letting the audience control a character's decisions. "Interactive storytelling can be what cinema was in the 20th century: an art that deeply changes its time," Cage says.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

David Cage

Interactive storyteller

See speaker profile

The creator of emotional, immersive games like "Heavy Rain," "BEYOND: Two Souls" and "Detroit: Become Human," David Cage uses games to push the boundaries of storytelling.

Quantic Dream | PlayStation 3, 2011 | Explore

In this breathtaking thriller, you will control four characters trying to save a child from a tortured serial killer obsessed with fatherly love. As the player, the fate of the characters rests in your hands; you are confronted with the question: "How far are you prepared to go to save someone you love?" The story you tell depends entirely on you.

Quantic Dream | PlayStation 3, 2013 | Explore

BEYOND: Two Souls

Jodi Holmes has been linked to an invisible entity since the day she was born. She doesn't know what it is or why it's attached to her, but she has no choice other than to live with her difference and try to lead a normal life. Featuring actors Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe, BEYOND: Two Souls offers a unique journey and evokes complex themes like accepting difference, the quest for identity and the nature of life and death.

Quantic Dream | PlayStation 4, 2018 | Explore

Detroit: Become Human

Detroit, 2038. Technology has made possible the creation of androids that look, speak and behave like human beings. They have replaced humans in many sectors, from workers and gardeners to policemen and teachers. They look like us, but they are treated like objects, like machines that should just obey orders.
The story begins when some of them start to feel emotions and decide to fight for freedom and equal rights.
You will control three androids discovering their emotions. Your choices will shape their destinies in the last days before the first android revolution in history. Every choice matters and your decisions will tell your own unique story in a thought-provoking experience that tackles segregation, racism, our relationship to technology, our future and the future of the artificial intelligence.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.