Unearthed: Long-Lost Sequel to 1984 Video Game Resurfaces Decades Later

Back in the late ’90s, a game development studio by the name of MediaX was hard at work on a puzzling project: a video game sequel to George Orwell’s 1984, an iconic novel warning against authoritarianism. Named after the novel’s chilling figurehead, Big Brother was sadly shelved in 1999. It faded into obscurity as lost media, until an unexpected resurfacing this past weekend when a demo popped up online.

On March 1, an early version of Big Brother, with a timestamp from January 4, 1999, made its way onto the Internet Archive. Alongside it came instructions for running the game on today’s systems. Released by an account seemingly created just for this purpose, the demo showcases limited gameplay. Yet, the details hint that it contains a treasure trove of levels and logic akin to the full game.

For those hesitant to dive into a random download, the Lost Media Wiki has become a repository of knowledge. It has aggregated a blend of gameplay footage, screenshots, and the intriguing backstory of the game’s development.

Players would have taken on the role of Eric Blair, an allusion to Orwell’s own name, on a mission to save his fiancée from the dreaded Thought Police. MediaX president Nancy Poertner once described the game in a 1999 GameWeek interview as an “interactive adventure with role-playing elements,” praising its blend of Riven’s details and Quake’s real-time world. At the time, Big Brother was reportedly 70% complete, eyeing a fall 1998 release.

Before meeting its untimely end, Big Brother had a moment in the spotlight. It was showcased at E3 in 1998 and even snagged the Best Interactive Product / CD-ROM Educational Game award at the Satellite Awards the next year. Its final media appearance was in Next Generation’s December 1999 issue, teasing an updated release aimed at early 1999. Unfortunately, MediaX lost the rights to 1984, and Newspeak, the rights holder, couldn’t secure another publisher. That marked the game’s abrupt end.

Throughout the 2020s, enthusiasts made numerous efforts to reach former MediaX developers to uncover more about Big Brother, but these attempts were in vain. This sudden reappearance, however, couldn’t have come at a more relevant time, resonating with current events in the United States.