Italian theater director Paolo Sacerdoti is making his gaming debut with “Hail Macbeth,” an interactive adaptation of Shakespeare‘s tragedy that blurs the line between player, character and fate.
The third-person narrative game, currently in development at Sacerdoti’s independent Milan-based Specto Studio, reimagines the relationship between player agency and predetermined narrative in ways that push interactive storytelling into new territory.
The game places players in the role of an unseen force shaping Macbeth‘s destiny, with a design that emphasizes psychological tension over conventional gameplay mechanics. Notably, every spoken word in the game is taken directly from Shakespeare’s original text, preserving the rhythms and musicality of the language while adapting the structure to fit an interactive format.
“‘Macbeth’ is the perfect intersection of action and introspection,” said Sacerdoti. “Its themes of fate and free will feel uniquely suited to an interactive experience. That tension between control and inevitability is what drives ‘Hail Macbeth,’ making players complicit in a story they can’t change.”
Sacerdoti, who directed Italy’s first large-scale immersive theater production “Roseline” in 2018, began developing “Hail Macbeth” in May 2024 after transitioning to game design the previous year. His team includes veterans from acclaimed narrative-driven titles like “Detroit: Become Human,” “Horizon Forbidden West,” “Hellblade 2,” “Alan Wake 2,” and “The Last of Us.”
The game’s setting defies traditional period adaptation, taking place in a surreal version of the 1990s where castles loom over brutalist architecture and corporate high-rises sit alongside industrial ruins. This dreamlike environment is designed to reflect the play’s themes of ambition distorting reality and paranoia shaping perception.
To create an authentic sense of inhabited space, the development team is employing hyper-realistic techniques, scanning real costumes and props to capture subtle details that reveal character histories through environmental storytelling.
The witches – Shakespeare’s agents of prophecy – are being integrated into the game’s UI, subtly revealing or obscuring information and distorting reality in ways that make players question the limits of their control.
“Hail Macbeth” is scheduled for release on console and PC in Q1 2026.
