# Oddworld
**Oddworld** is a video game franchise created by Lorne Lanning and Sherry McKenna and developed by their studio Oddworld Inhabitants, founded in 1994. The games are set on a planet where the indigenous natives are forced into labor and worse by greedy invaders, and they combine platforming and action gameplay with corporate satire and a cast of quirky aliens.[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/) The series debuted with *[Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee](https://www.edgepedia.org/oddworld-abes-oddysee)* in 1997 and has maintained a loyal fan following despite long gaps between releases.[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Creators | Lorne Lanning and Sherry McKenna, co-founders of Oddworld Inhabitants (1994)[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/) |
| First game | *Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee*, 1997, PlayStation[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/) • [2](https://as.com/meristation/2020/06/14/analisis/1592123224_058697.html) |
| Original plan | A five-part "Oddworld Quintology" beginning with Abe's story[3](https://oddworldlibrary.net/wiki/Archive%3AInterview_with_Oddworld_Team) |
| Signature character | Abe, an anti-hero described by Lanning as "the rather pathetic chump that you actually are" rather than a muscle-bound superhero[5](https://blog.playstation.com/2012/09/28/behind-the-classics-oddworld-abes-oddysee/) |
| Recurring themes | Exploitation of indigenous workers, animal testing, consumerism, and corporate greed[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/) • [6](https://oddworldlibrary.net/wiki/Archive%3AAn_interview_with_Lorne_Lanning) |
| Hiatus and return | Studio closed after *Stranger's Wrath*; games resumed in 2008 for digital distribution, leading to the HD remakes and *Soulstorm*[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/) |
## Origins and intent
Lorne Lanning studied at the [California Institute of the Arts](https://www.edgepedia.org/california-institute-of-the-arts) and spent years in video, animation, and commercial production before founding Oddworld Inhabitants in 1994 as a storytelling game company.[7](https://media.gdcvault.com/GD_Mag_Archives/Game.Developer.2004.11.pdf) He spent two and a half years developing the concept before the first game, *Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee*, went into production in 1997.[8](https://media.gdcvault.com/GD_Mag_Archives/GDM_October_2003.pdf)
The studio's stated goal was to bring film-industry craft, including character development, production design, and animation, into games, and to build a brand around what Lanning called the "dysfunctional cracked mirror of our real world."[5](https://blog.playstation.com/2012/09/28/behind-the-classics-oddworld-abes-oddysee/) Lanning has described the tone as "Muppets meet X-Files," and cited [Jim Henson](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-henson) as a model for nurturing characters over a lifetime rather than selling the property.[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/) The stories draw on real-world injustices: Lanning framed *Abe's Oddysee* as being about deforestation for the sake of a cheap meal, *[Abe's Exoddus](https://www.edgepedia.org/oddworld-abes-exoddus)* about consumer food addictions, and *[Munch's Oddysee](https://www.edgepedia.org/oddworld-munchs-oddysee)* about animal testing for the sake of a better fabric softener.[6](https://oddworldlibrary.net/wiki/Archive%3AAn_interview_with_Lorne_Lanning)
## The games
**Abe's Oddysee (1997).** The first game, released on the [PlayStation](https://www.edgepedia.org/playstation), used pre-rendered cinematics and graphics that drew attention at the time, a format made possible by CD storage capacity.[2](https://as.com/meristation/2020/06/14/analisis/1592123224_058697.html) It is a side-scrolling platformer in which players control Abe, a Mudokon slave, and the game tracks the player's treatment of others: killing people was possible but produced different endings, with a good karma ending and a bad karma ending depending on whether the player helped people.[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/)
**Abe's Exoddus (1998).** Lanning followed the first game with a sequel the next year.[4](https://www.engadget.com/2016-06-29-oddworld-creator-on-how-customer-feedback-changed-gaming.html)
**Munch's Oddysee (2001).** The third release moved the series to 3D and introduced a new character, Munch. It was developed for Xbox after Oddworld Inhabitants signed an exclusivity agreement with Microsoft, following the absorption of the game's publisher, GT Interactive, by Infogrames.[9](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/oddworld-inhabitants-lorne-lanning-talks-xbox/1100-2697284/) • [2](https://as.com/meristation/2020/06/14/analisis/1592123224_058697.html) The studio itself has said that technical and time restrictions meant the game released in November 2001 fell far short of its original vision, which had combined action, adventure, role-playing, strategy, and simulation elements with creature raising, day-night cycles, and class struggle.[2](https://as.com/meristation/2020/06/14/analisis/1592123224_058697.html) Lanning attributed the shortfall to over-ambition on a new platform and to the unpredictable costs of [PlayStation 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/playstation-2) development.[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/)
**Stranger's Wrath (2005).** The fourth game was a first-person shooter starring a new character, the Stranger, distributed by EA and exclusive to the original Xbox.[10](https://as.com/meristation/2020/01/23/analisis/1579762148_705944.html) Lanning designed it as "a shooter that doesn't like guns": the live-ammo mechanic let players capture targets alive, which paid better than killing them.[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/) Commercially it was poorly promoted and, in Lanning's words, "got slaughtered by Halo, deservedly," which contributed to the studio's decision to stop.[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/)
## The Quintology that wasn't
From the start, Lanning presented the series as the first of a five-part Oddworld Quintology.[3](https://oddworldlibrary.net/wiki/Archive%3AInterview_with_Oddworld_Team) The third entry was to be *Squeek's Oddysee*, about a character fitted with robotic life-support devices by the Vykkers, the same animal researchers who would "kill a million bunnies just to make a better fabric softener."[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/) Rising development costs, publisher terms that made financing unowned IP unattractive, and the weak commercial performance of *Stranger's Wrath* combined to end the plan; the studio closed and waited for digital distribution.[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/)
## Hiatus and return
In 2008 the studio began building games again for multiple platforms and moved them to PSN, where the old titles sold surprisingly well.[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/) A successful deal with the British studio Just Add Water in 2009 let Oddworld Inhabitants outsource development, and Just Add Water created *Stranger's Wrath HD*, *Munch's Oddysee HD*, and *Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty*, a remake of the first game.[11](https://electronicsandbooks.com/edt/manual/Magazine/R/Retro%20Gamer%20UK/Retro%20Gamer%20Issue%20132%20-%202014%20%20UK.pdf) *Stranger's Wrath HD* cost less than a million dollars to make, reached number one on PS Vita at Christmas, and its success funded the *Oddysee* remake, whose title was chosen by internet voting among fans.[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/)
It is a reimagining of *Abe's Exoddus* with crafting, a double jump, and updated presentation, and reviewers noted both its strong visual and narrative identity and its uneven pacing and unpolished mechanics.[12](https://as.com/meristation/2021/04/12/analisis/1618219131_772688.html)
## Other media
Oddworld Inhabitants pursued a CGI animated film, *Citizen Siege*, which EA had greenlit as a game before the studio took it toward a movie; the 2008 financial crisis ended the $50-60 million project, and it returned to the shelf.[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/) Lanning has said script outlines and hundreds of pieces of concept art exist for an Abe film, but that funding it independently would depend on the games' success.[1](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/)
## References
1. [Oddworld creator on controlling his universe, WIRED UK (Matt Kamen, June 2014)](https://www.wired.com/story/oddworld-lorne-lanning-interview/)
2. [Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, análisis Nintendo Switch, Meristation (2020)](https://as.com/meristation/2020/06/14/analisis/1592123224_058697.html)
3. [Archive: Interview with Oddworld Team, Oddworld Library](https://oddworldlibrary.net/wiki/Archive%3AInterview_with_Oddworld_Team)
4. [Oddworld creator on how customer feedback changed gaming, Engadget (2016)](https://www.engadget.com/2016-06-29-oddworld-creator-on-how-customer-feedback-changed-gaming.html)
5. [Behind The Classics – Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, PlayStation.Blog (2012)](https://blog.playstation.com/2012/09/28/behind-the-classics-oddworld-abes-oddysee/)
6. [Archive: An interview with Lorne Lanning, Oddworld Library](https://oddworldlibrary.net/wiki/Archive%3AAn_interview_with_Lorne_Lanning)
7. [Game Developer magazine, November 2004, GDC Vault archive](https://media.gdcvault.com/GD_Mag_Archives/Game.Developer.2004.11.pdf)
8. [Talking to People Who Make a Difference, Game Developer magazine, October 2003, GDC Vault archive](https://media.gdcvault.com/GD_Mag_Archives/GDM_October_2003.pdf)
9. [Oddworld Inhabitants' Lorne Lanning talks Xbox, GameSpot](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/oddworld-inhabitants-lorne-lanning-talks-xbox/1100-2697284/)
10. [Oddworld Stranger's Wrath, análisis Switch, Meristation (2020)](https://as.com/meristation/2020/01/23/analisis/1579762148_705944.html)
11. [Retro Gamer Issue 132 (2014), UK](https://electronicsandbooks.com/edt/manual/Magazine/R/Retro%20Gamer%20UK/Retro%20Gamer%20Issue%20132%20-%202014%20%20UK.pdf)
12. [Oddworld: Soulstorm, análisis, Meristation (2021)](https://as.com/meristation/2021/04/12/analisis/1618219131_772688.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Video games and digital play › Games and gameplay › Franchises and series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license