Matt Nava

Matt Nava

@mattnava.bsky.social

Creative Director of Sword of the Sea, The Pathless, and ABZÛ. Art Director of Journey and Flower. Natural history/dinosaur enthusiast. mattnava.com

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Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

10th anniversary Journey thread, recreated: I was the art director of thatgamecompany's Journey. It set the course of my career and my art. I'm forever thankful to the community of players and their incredible love for the game. This is a thread comparing early dev images and how things shipped.

Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

Check out this fun Sword of the Sea interview I recently did when in the Netherlands. See how the game incorporates flow states, ritual, and even ballet. You may have to translate it!

Tom Kauwenberg@tomkauw.nl

Voor een eerste artikel heb ik uitgebreid met @mattnava.bsky.social (van @giantsquidstudios.com) gebabbeld – in kleermakerszit, op een grasveldje in Eindhoven. Dankbaar voor dit interview. 💜 Matt is een doordachte en inspirerende spellenmaker, ook al staat hij verkeerd om op zijn snowboard.

alt-mag.nlMatt Nava beweegt spelers met spirituele flow statesSpellenmaker Matt Nava staat bekend om schilderachtige spellen met spirituele thema's. Daarmee beweegt Nava ons, maar wat beweegt hem?
Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

This is a fun article I participated in about the NDS art creation scene! Check out how my NDS ended up on display in a museum…

Francisco Dominguez@dominguezf.bsky.social

The Nintendo DS/3DS enjoys a strange afterlife among digital creatives. I spoke to @mattnava.bsky.social about when he painted Journey's concept art with a DS Lite in a desert, and Art Academy's creator and 3DS photographers about its artistic relevance. www.backmarket.com/en-us/c/tech...

backmarket.comHow the Nintendo DS and 3DS inspire artists | Back MarketAlthough Nintendo's focus might be on the Switch 2 nowadays, it hasn't stopped artists from continuing to embrace the Nintendo DS and 3DS to aide with their creations. Francisco Dominguez speaks to so...

Matt Nava reposted

Giant Squid 🦑
@giantsquidstudios.com

Want to be featured on the PlayStation Blog? 📸 Grab your camera and share moments restoring the sea using #PSshare #PSBlog on Instagram or Twitter/X for a chance to be featured. SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on August 27, 2025

Matt Nava reposted

MinnMax
@minnmax.com

What are you playing this weekend? Here's the MinnMax Discord's Top 10! 1. Sword of The Sea 2. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach 3. Hollow Knight 4. The Rogue Prince of Persia 5. UFO 50 6. Donkey Kong Bananza 7. Lies Of P: Overture 8. Marvel Rivals 9. Merge Maestro 10. Rematch

Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

It was so fun talking to Kate about design ideas behind Sword of the Sea. Thanks so much for letting me geek out about some of my inspirations, and for the thoughtful, kind words about the game. Thanks Kate!

Kate Sánchez@ohmymithrandir.bsky.social

Thanks to @giantsquidstudios.com 's Matt Nava for taking the time to talk with me about Sword of the Sea! We dive deep on the game's inspirations, mechanics, and design, but the thing that struck me was Nava's goal to leave the world better than he found it with his games:

butwhytho.netGiant Squid's Matt Nava Talks Sword of the Sea And Leaving The World Better Than It WasWe spoke with Giant Squid's Creative Director, Matt Nava about Sword of the Sea's unique mechanics, exploration with no map, and more.
Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

Check out this great article about Sword of the Sea! It was an absolute delight to chat with Lewis about the game-we talked about the thoughts behind it, and even about the crazy sand and water shader! Thank you!

Lewis Gordon@lewisgordon.bsky.social

Waxed lyrical about the wonder-filled perspective of Sword of the Sea for @eurogamer.bsky.social. Also featuring director @mattnava.bsky.social on trippy IRL snowboarding experiences, sumptuous shaders, and going on Caravaggio pilgrimages as a kid. www.eurogamer.net/video-games-...

eurogamer.netVideo games and "cathedrals of fire": the eye-widening wonder of Sword of the SeaSword of the Sea is a reminder of games' ability to inspire awe like no other medium - just play it for yourself and see.

Matt Nava reposted

Joel Finney
@izzylizard.bsky.social

Best day! So wonderful seeing all the joy and love from our players today. So many thoughts I want to express, but don’t have the words tonight. Thank you for your support and enjoy #SwordOfTheSea ! 💖🗡️🏄🌊💖

Matt Nava reposted

PlayStation
@playstation.com

Your PlayStation Plus Game Catalog lineup for August: 🐉 Mortal Kombat 1 🕸️ Marvel’s Spider-Man 🏄 Sword of the Sea 👾 Earth Defense Force 6 …and more, all available Aug 19. Full details: play.st/4mEVt3N

Matt Nava reposted

Giant Squid 🦑
@giantsquidstudios.com

Don’t miss this exclusive interview with @mattnava.bsky.social about Sword of the Sea at Summer Game Fest!

Remap Radio@remapradio.bsky.social

Patrick spent a few days in Los Angeles at this year’s Summer Game Fest, and in-between equal parts beer and coffee, he found time to chat with a bunch of game developers at the show about their games (and fascism). remapradio.com/podcasts/epi...

remapradio.comRemap Interviews – Summer Game Fest Interviews (Part 1)Patrick spent a few days in Los Angeles at this year’s Summer Game Fest, and in-between equal parts beer and coffee, he found time to chat with a bunch of game developers at the show about their games...

Matt Nava reposted

Joel Finney
@izzylizard.bsky.social

There's some more gameplay footage in here 👀 So proud of our team! #SwordoftheSea

Giant Squid 🦑@giantsquidstudios.com

Sword of the Sea: Hands-on Report! ㅤ Read the full article here written by Sony Interactive Entertainment's O'Dell Harmon Jr.: blog.playstation.com/2025/06/05/s... Sword of the Sea is launching August 19th, 2025.

blog.playstation.comSword of the Sea: hands-on reportA spiritual quest to bring the ocean back comes to PlayStation Plus Game Catalog day one on August 19.
Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

BIG NEWS Sword of the Sea comes out AUGUST 19th! Check out our new trailer!! So excited to finally share this!

Giant Squid 🦑@giantsquidstudios.com

We're excited to reveal that Sword of the Sea will officially launch on August 19th this year! Get ready to ride the waves on PlayStation 5, Steam, and Epic Games Store. Wishlist links below! #SwordoftheSea

Matt Nava reposted

Wholesome Games
@wholesomegames.com

Ride a hovering sword over shifting seas of sand, magma, and ice in Sword of the Sea. "From the visionary artist behind ABZÛ, The Pathless, and Journey, and featuring a beautiful score by Austin Wintory."

Matt Nava reposted

Joel Finney
@izzylizard.bsky.social

Wings are extremely hard to rig in 3D, especially if you want to be able to fold them nicely. For The Pathless, we actually had two wing rigs working at the same time to get around this problem! If you look closely, you might can spot the swap. #Animation #VideoGames #GameAnim #ThePathless #Eagle

Matt Nava reposted

chinjuh
@chinjuh.bsky.social

Blueskyで origami についての投稿を読んでいて折り図をみつけました。JOURNEY TRAVELER というタイトルで、一般的な旅人のイメージなのかなと思いながら折りました。 出来上がってからタイトルを検索してみたら、『風ノ旅ビト』というゲームの自キャラだったんですね？！ ゲームキャラにそっくりなので驚きました。 So cool ! Thanks for revealing the folding instructions. #origami

Matt Nava@mattnava.bsky.social

Posting about Journey made me remember the origami Traveler I designed. If you want to try folding one, the instructions I drew are here! Many people folded my design years ago, a truly wonderful thing to see. Now there are more really nice designs out there others have made. Share if you make one!

Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

Posting about Journey made me remember the origami Traveler I designed. If you want to try folding one, the instructions I drew are here! Many people folded my design years ago, a truly wonderful thing to see. Now there are more really nice designs out there others have made. Share if you make one!

Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

This character was an important early step towards the final character design in Journey. I designed it before the game was greenlit, in the first weeks of the project. Elements of it stuck around until the end, and it helped define the art direction. I'll share a bit about it in this thread.

View full thread
Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

In early tests, players expected to be able to use the Ninja's arms to climb walls, and even punch other players. Eventually I removed the arms of the character to give players a better expectation of their abilities in Journey. It took me several more design iterations to discover that solution.

Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

To greenlight the game, we animated a mock trailer. It featured the Ninja. The animation played a big role in getting Journey funded, so this character ended up being very important. Thank you, To-Chan. And thanks to all the fans who gave it more life over the years with their stories and art.

Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

This character was an important early step towards the final character design in Journey. I designed it before the game was greenlit, in the first weeks of the project. Elements of it stuck around until the end, and it helped define the art direction. I'll share a bit about it in this thread.

View full thread
Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

We also decided early that cloth would be a tech-focus for Journey- This character was one of the first to explore how we could drape cloth on the character in an interesting and achievable way. Interestingly, it was the design of the face mask that survived most.

Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

Internally we called it the "Ninja." Fans discovered the character after the game shipped and dubbed it "To-Chan," imagining it to be the "father" of final traveler character.

Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

This character was an important early step towards the final character design in Journey. I designed it before the game was greenlit, in the first weeks of the project. Elements of it stuck around until the end, and it helped define the art direction. I'll share a bit about it in this thread.

Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

Our programmers we concerned about the cost and low-quality of realtime shadow rendering at the time. I was asked to design a visual style that wouldn't rely on it. I tried hand-painting the lighting, with a flat look- this character was designed to fit in these abstracted backgrounds.

Matt Nava reposted

Giant Squid 🦑
@giantsquidstudios.com

In The Pathless, you control a fast and acrobatic archer we call the Hunter. It's important to us that players, regardless of gaming skill or experience, can easily become and act like the Hunter- a character with heroic aiming skill. This thread is about how we designed the game's unique archery.

Matt Nava
@mattnava.bsky.social

I recreated my old 10th anniversary Journey thread from twitter. I added alt text that gives more detail on each image, so If you saw it before, do check it out again! I should do a thread expanding on the insanity that was how I did shadows for this game... this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Matt Nava@mattnava.bsky.social

10th anniversary Journey thread, recreated: I was the art director of thatgamecompany's Journey. It set the course of my career and my art. I'm forever thankful to the community of players and their incredible love for the game. This is a thread comparing early dev images and how things shipped.