Blacksad: Under the Skin

Lore & Background

Blacksad: Under the Skin is an adventure game from 2019, developed by Pendulo Studios and published by Microïds. It adapts the Spanish comic series Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, following detective John Blacksad as he probes the suspicious death of a boxing club owner. This was Pendulo's first project based on an existing license and their first to use fully 3D graphics. The idea came from Microïds in late 2016, shortly after the two companies finished work on *Yesterday Origins*; Microïds and Blacksad's publisher Dargaud belong to the same media conglomerate. The game launched on PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on November 14, 2019, though a technical error caused an unfinished version to appear in Europe on November 5. A Nintendo Switch port followed on December 10, 2019. Critics gave it mixed reviews.

The gameplay takes place in a three-dimensional world, with comparisons drawn to Telltale Games titles, *L.A. Noire*, and *Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter*. There is no inventory or point-and-click interface; instead, players directly control the character. Choices affect the protagonist's alignment with other characters, and the story branches based on player decisions. Quick-time events, timed conversations, and clue-hunting sequences are present. During investigations, Blacksad's feline senses let players slow time to spot visual clues, which are added to an index and can be combined to form conclusions for both the main story and optional side-quests.

Set in 1950s New York City, the plot takes place between *Blacksad: Arctic Nation* and *Red Soul*. Sonia Dunn, daughter of the deceased boxing club owner Joe Dunn, asks Blacksad to investigate the death and find missing star fighter Bobby Yale. The game features 30 unique characters, five of whom appear in the comics: John Blacksad, Commissioner Smirnov, Jake Ostiombe, Paulie, and Weekly. There are six possible endings.

Pendulo, Spain's longest-running game developer by 2019, had previously made the *Runaway* and *Hollywood Monsters* series. YS Interactive initially assisted on the project. The team storyboarded a pitch and submitted it to Dargaud and the comic's authors, who approved it. The project was unexpectedly announced in June 2017, with an initial target of late 2018. Adapting Guarnido's visual style was the biggest challenge; the authors reviewed every stage of the 2D concept art and 3D visuals. Canales requested a deep voice for Blacksad due to the character's heavy smoking, leading to the casting of Barry Johnson (English) and Gabriel Jiménez (Spanish). The story is original and non-canonical, focusing on sports-related corruption and television's impact on 1950s sports—a topic the comic creators had not yet explored. The theme of corruption emerged from Pendulo's research into the era and was intended to force players to decide whether to accept or reject it.

Reader's Guide

Blacksad: Under the Skin represents a significant shift for Pendulo Studios, marking their first licensed project and first fully 3D game. The gameplay was compared to Telltale Games titles, L.A. Noire, and Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter, featuring direct character control instead of point-and-click, choice-based interactions, quick-time events, timed conversations, and clue-searching scenes. John Blacksad's heightened feline senses allow players to slow down time and perceive visual clues, which can be combined to form conclusions for both main story and optional side-quests. The game received mixed reviews from critics. Its release was marred by a technical error that caused an unfinished version to launch in Europe on 5 November 2019, before the intended 14 November release. Microïds advised buyers not to play the unfinished version and planned a day-one patch to add sound effects, fix major bugs, and increase frame rate. Patches soon followed to address bugs and instabilities at launch. The rollout was characterized as disastrous by some commentators.

Did You Know?

• Blacksad: Under the Skin is Pendulo Studios' first game based on a license and its first to use fully 3D graphics.
• The game's story is officially considered non-canonical to the Blacksad comic series.
• A technical error caused an unfinished version of the game to launch in Europe on 5 November 2019, nine days before the intended release.