When the CEO of Jo-Mei Games, Cornelia Geppert, took the stage at E3 she was impressively nervous. She took a moment to breathe, take in the audience and the moment. She exhaled, smiled and continued. E3 press conferences tend to suffer from a clinically scripted feeling, so Geppert’s all too human moment was a breath of fresh air.

Geppert runs Berlin based Jo-Mei Games along with partner Boris Munser. Geppert started her career as an illustrator and artist for the  German comic series Mosaik. During the EA Play press conference at the Hollywood Palladium on Saturday June 9, Geppert told the audience about her experience writing Sea of Solitude. Suffering from loneliness herself, she spoke passionately about writing this deeply personal story during a dark period in her life.

“At times it is very challenging to dig that deep into your own feelings like core fears, longing and anger, but at the same time it is the most fulfilling thing to express those very feelings by putting it to people through art.” — Geppert, speaking at EA Play

Loneliness can turn humans into monsters. That’s the basis for the story of Kay, the protagonist in Sea of Solitude (SOS for short). Kay begins her journey to unravel what happened to her, on her way she finds out her enemies are not the huge monsters she encounters but something else far more dangerous.

Here’s the trailer released today during EA Play:

This game looks like a unique and wonderful way for players to explore their own complex emotional landscapes. The trailer alludes to Kay’s desire to make peace with her inner darkness and to reach out to others who have the same monsters within them. It will be exciting to hear more from Geppert and her team at Jo-Mei Games. The art style for SOS is visually striking and distinctive, you can see more of the unique art style below.

Stills from Sea of Solitude:



Players can expect Sea of Solitude in early 2019. The game will be released as an EA Originals title. Until then, you can keep up with the games development here.