Sky: Children of the Light

Lore & Background

In Sky, players explore a once-prosperous kingdom using a cape that allows them to fly. The in-game world consists of seven unique realms, each with a variety of areas to explore, and a theme representing different stages of life. There is also Home and Aviary Village, with Home being a small island which serves as the world hub and the starting point and Aviary Village as a village with shops and a place that the player can customize as their house. Throughout the world, players encounter 'spirits' that allow them to unlock items in return for in-game currency, and 'children of light' which give players 'winged light'. When a player has collected enough winged light, their cape level goes up, allowing them to fly further.

Reader's Guide

The game places heavy focus on social mechanics. Players are able to meet and befriend one another, and can unlock new abilities like chat and sending gifts as their friendship grows. There are also many cosmetic items to collect including capes, masks, hairstyles, hats, pants, shoes, musical instruments, expressions, and more. These items can be obtained using in-game currency or, in some cases, bought with real money. Some cosmetics are only available to certain players, such as the original beta cape, exclusive to those who played the beta version prior to the full release. Sky has multiple in-game currencies. 'Candles' are the main currency of Sky, and are exchanged with spirits and friends in return for items and abilities. Candles are obtained by collecting pieces of light (called wax in-game) and forging them, or by purchasing them for real money. 'Hearts' are the social currency of Sky, and are obtained when players receive gifts from others, or can be bought directly from spirits with candles. Hearts are mainly used to purchase cosmetic items from spirits. 'Ascended candles' are the rarest currency in Sky, which are rewarded to players for giving their winged light to 'the fallen' at the end of the game. Ascended candles are exchanged with spirits for 'wing buffs', which give players extra Winged Light, or can be used to upgrade friendship and purchase various spells such as height alteration and cape recharge. Another form of currency called 'Event Currency', introduced in the 0.21.5 update, is a type of currency that is only available for specific events. Event Currency was created to bring equity to newer players and allow for event-specific in-game currency (IGC) items to be obtained more easily. Some examples of event currency are: seasonal candles, seasonal hearts, and event tickets.

Did You Know?

• The game was developed over the course of seven years, using a custom game engine based on Thatgamecompany's previous work on PlayStation titles.
• The game servers are hosted on Amazon Web Services infrastructure, with parts of the backend written in Erlang in cooperation with Amber Studio.
• Sky features an orchestral score composed by Vincent Diamante, with some tracks performed by FAME'S Macedonian Symphonic Orchestra, and Norwegian singer Aurora provides vocals for the intro and outro songs.
• In 2020, a 'Days of Nature' event resulted in 40,576 trees planted across Amazonian and Australian forests in partnership with OneTreePlanted.
• Sky holds two Guinness World Records for 'Most Users in a Concert-Themed World' and 'Most Players Emoting Together at the Same Time in a Single Video Game'.