The Estate: A video game inspired by northern council estates
Manchester, labelled an economic miracle by the British media for the last ten years, pivoted from manufacturing to a service and arts-based economy. The economic boom created a property bubble that changed the city beyond recognition and enticed foreign investment to gentrify communities with a new modern skyline. The northern city is quickly returning to it’s past of wealth inequality and deprivation.
Manchester's cultural legacy over the last fifty years, however, was built by its residents. The impact of areas such as Hulme, Salford, Moss Side, Levenshulme, and Wythenshawe on its arts and music sectors is rarely discussed in mainstream narratives. We glamorise the best parts, but often ignore the council estate communities that pushed culture forward. The indie game ‘The Estate’ is a satirical glance at Manchester's working-class history, which hadn’t existed in video game form, until now.
Under the pseudonym CTRLSway, the video game designer grew up in Denton and channeled his lived experience of the northern city into video game format. "I've always been intrigued with inner city northern culture and used to go round Broughton taking loads of pictures of the boarded-up, ready-to-be-demolished houses” he tells Dance Policy, “my family lived in lower Broughton for a few years since I was born and then we moved away as it just wasn't the best place to live.” The Estate features old 2000s cars, Nokia 3310s, and the classic PlayStation low-poly graphics, all set in a fictionalised council estate inspired by Manchester.
CTRLSway first started making video games in 2019, and the project has been in progress for the last seven years. From designing, photography, and modelling, The Estate felt “like the next natural step” when he realised there was a lack of games set up north, especially on a council estates. Representation of his own city is the main goal for the video game designer, as “it’s a very underrepresented place when it comes to video games; I can only name one game set up north! I'm definitely trying to convey a gritty, unfiltered look at 90s and 2000s street life; I think having an imperfect PS2 janky art style reminiscent of games like Manhunt and Max Payne is a great route.” The game’s aesthetic is unapologetically Manchester, with its red-brick council houses, surrounded by tower blocks and high-rises in the distance, a view residents in Cheetham Hill, Hulme, and Gorton will be used to.
The Estate isn’t ambiguous about its visual identity, the creator drops cultural references to Devvo, selling drugs, and dancing boss man shopkeepers: “It's part nostalgia playground, part political satire and part gentrification, that's all I can really say, but nothing is set in stone and is still all up in the air, I'm still working on core mechanics and making sure it feels good to play and runs well.”
You can support the game's development by following CTRLSway and by donating here