Escalade: The Darkest Night
An immersive VR experience that brings the events of Geneva’s Escalade of 1602 to life.Project Info
Producer
Artanim
Year
2023
Summary
December 1602 – the Duke of Savoy is about to send his troops into Geneva. As Brunaulieu becomes the first to reach the top of the city walls, the shot of an arquebus echoes through the night, sounding the alarm. A series of acts of bravery then shifts the tide of the battle – a cooking pot thrown from an open window, a fiercely defended door, or a portcullis crashing to the ground with a thunderous roar. These are just some of the events visitors witness during their journey through Geneva in 1602.
Escalade: The Darkest Night is an immersive VR experience that lets visitors relive the events of that fateful night. They navigate dark streets and treacherous rooftops and stand alongside legendary figures of the Escalade as Geneva comes under attack by the troops of the Duke of Savoy.
The experience was created in partnership with the Compagnie de 1602, whose expertise contributed to the historical reconstruction.
Escalade: The Darkest Night was presented at the Dreamscape center in Geneva from December 9, 2023, to December 28, 2025.
Learn more about the immersive technology behind the experience.
Credits
Production, project direction, script, 3D content creation, gameplay and VR platform
Artanim
Music and sound design
Alain Renaud
Scientific committee
Jean-Marc Barberis, Claude Bonard, Matthieu de la Corbière, Michelle Joguin Regelin, Daniel Villa, Museum of Art and History of Geneva
Motion capture performers
Jean-Luc Borgeat, Paolo Dos Santos, Medhi Duman, Sophie Gabus, Karim Kadjar, Olivier Lafrance, Delphine Lanza, Michaël Martin, David Obrist, Dorian Rossel
Stunt performers
Maxence Arendrup, Thibault Brunschwig, Olivier Lafrance, Thomas Laffet, Matteo Mancuso, Michaël Moser, Cyprien Raemy, Kilian Ruchti
French voice actors
Maxence Arendrup, Ségolène Bouët, Thibault Brunschwig, Célestin Casetta, Alessandro Capozzi, Fabien Coquil, Stefano Grasso, Antoine Heer, Mickaël Krebs, Jacques Perrot, Kilian Ruchti
English voice actors
Tony Behnam, Alexander Brown, Alessandro Capozzi, Medhi Duman, David French, Stefano Grasso, Peter Gould, Weston Heflin, Karim Kadjar, Sami Kali, Frances Favre, Jonathan Machen, James Miners, Gemma Parkes, Benjamin Otway, Max Otway, Mina Rauschenbach, Alain Renaud, Bill Sage, Shishir Sanghvi, Olivier Sidore
Set design and haptic devices
Raphaël Anderegg, Marc Wettstein
Scent creation
Leandre Lorson, Till Noack, Monica Sanchez Pozzo
Main partners
Compagnie de 1602
Other partners
DSM-Firmenich, Museum of Art and History of Geneva
Main supporters
Artanim, Ernst Göhner Foundation
Other supporters
CCIG, Synergix