Interview with Former Tantalus Artist Gives Some Insight Into The Development of Twilight Princess HD

One of the biggest frustrations with the video game industry is how secretive it is. Video game development is often shrouded in secrecy, with studios and publishers being extremely careful about what they reveal to the public. Whenever we get interviews from artists or designers inside the industry, it feels like a rare peek behind an iron curtain.

This interview between KIWI TALKZ and artist Emily McGregor is an exciting discussion about being an artist in the video game industry. The wide-ranging, forty-minute interview is extremely interesting, and it touches on a variety of topics, both professional and personal. Most significantly to Zelda fans, the interview gives some insight and background into Twilight Princess HD. Interviewee Emily McGregor worked at Tantalus Media from 2014 to 2020, and she worked as an artist on Twilight Princess HD, which was released in 2016.

In the interview, McGregor discuss a variety of topics related to Twilight Princess HD, including information about how the project came about, some details about the requirements or limitations that Nintendo gave to the team at Tantalus, as well as some background about how Tantalus worked with Nintendo. In terms of the size of the team that worked on Twilight Princess HD, McGregor asserts that the team was “medium” sized, and the team included around ten programmers.

Sean Gadus

Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. The final battle of Tears of the Kingdom is one of his favorite final battles in the entire series. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world.  You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.