Sea of Remnants, by Joker Studio and NetEase Games, takes piracy in a unique direction. Synchronizing the original punks of the high seas with modern punk aesthetics. But pulling this off requires a high level of detail to ensure the aesthetic fits a wide range of scenarios. It also requires a balance to not overdo the beauty of the game’s natural environment.
We got to speak with Kairos, Joker Studio’s Lead Artist, to talk about the development of their unique art style and how the team changed to create a game that matches visual aesthetics with ever-changing musical cinematic moments.
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Firstly, we talked about where the idea of piracy came from and how they chose to add modern-punk influences to their designs. Kairos began his responsibilities on the project: “I’m responsible for the handling, management, and design of all the art content from scratch for the Sea of Remnants.“
Joker Studio’s approach to Sea of Remnant’s pirates was based on punk rock whimsy.
This led to a conversation about why they chose the direction they have for their artstyle and designs for this setting. Kairos said that the theme is where their design decisions originate. “We started with the pirate game idea, because for us, a theme is always the first thing that we settle on. And when we are researching the basic ideas of the pirate, we actually looked at the different new directions.”
He added, “We can go for very violent. We can go for the looting. We can go for the gambling, drug stuff. But in the end, we really wanted to go for a more relaxed vibe. But we also want to reflect the freedom, the rebellion, this flashy side of the pirates. That’s why we go for a very punk kind of style. But for the story, we still want to keep it very chill, whimsical, and even joyful.”
He continued on by addressing the idea of punk and rebellion. In other words, it wasn’t clear from the early demonstration we were given what exactly the doll pirates are rebelling against. “So, what we are rebelling against, I cannot expose it as of now, because my producers put a zip on my mouth. But I can tell you that if you look at the visual elements, we hide a lot of conflicts of a rebellion in it.”
Joker Studio’s Lead Artist confirmed there is no GenAI used in Sea of Remnant’s art.
Kairos provided further detail on how piracy is a natural fit for a story that blends rebellion and modern struggles. “What we are thinking about is how to really pinpoint the feeling of piracy,, and how to reflect that sense of rebellion to make it still feel relevant to modern life. We try to really bring and incorporate more trendy and modern elements from, for example, street culture, etc.” Kairos also agreed that modern animation elements served as inspiration, such as Arcane’s use of color in its more rebellious aspects.
Yet, to focus on the idea of the designs from scratch led to an interesting conversation on the use of AI. China and America are both seeing a surge in AI development. As part of that surge, the use of AI has seeped into many aspects of our lives, whether we wanted it to or not. What’s been most concerning is how it has encroached on creative projects.
Kairos confirmed flatly that AI was not used in the development of Sea of Remnants. “Back when we started this project, AI was not as developed as it is now. In terms of the pirate theme, the research or the design of the puppets, or the introduction of the punk spirit, there was no AI involved in the process. And even up to now, we don’t feel AI is powerful enough to offer this project.”
He clarified that this doesn’t mean that AI will never be used at Joker Studio. We are very closely following the possibility of applying AI either to creative work or simply as a tool. I think AI is very good in terms of applying it to, for example, check and review work, and as a tool to help us reduce repetitive work.”
As part of the conversation, this sounded more like an openness to using machine learning rather than generative AI (genAI) to ease the burden on them as creators, once it meets the team’s standards.
The first major art hurdle was getting all 300+ unique interactive NPCs in sync visually.
Speaking of repetitive work, one of the highlighted features was the presence of over 300 distinct companions and NPCs throughout the world. Each is living their life, with their lives changing throughout the progression of the story.
One example was a resident of Orbtopia leaving to start a shop on an island out at sea. They may return later if business doesn’t work out for them. The amount of attention to detail to create 300+ unique interactive NPCs does require a lot of work and strategy on the developer’s end.
Kairos said that the scale they’ve achieved came from a first major hurdle, scale production. “The first challenge you run into is the problem of scale production. The artwork’s strong style means the artists need time to adapt to it and ensure their presentation and output meet our standards”.
He added that their solution was to impose limits on what is possible for NPC customization. “What we did was we broke NPCs into different models, so you can mix and match. For example, this NPC can have this mustache, that piece of accessories to make sure that NPCs do look different. We also have an automated matching system that matches modules and generates different NPCs.”
Sea of Remnants uses Chinese mythology to bring to life scene-stealing characters.
Even with the NPC design, there was one real standout part of the artstyle that really was attention-grabbing. That was the little hamster who plays a key role in the open world content of Sea of Remnants. So why the hamster, and not a cat? Or relying on historical Chinese or other mythological deities of luck and chance.
Kairos said that this was because they wanted to combine the whimsy of the game with a fun portrayal of luck. “If we go for the Greek gods from the Greek mythology, it will just feel too much like fate. So we want to go for a more whimsical and humorous way, and sometimes it can even be a little bit flamboyant. And that’s why we end up with hamster. So it becomes like a hamster God that the Pirates will pray for the fortune and favor”.
He added, “So we also want to have this kind of whimsical or wittiness in our games, so you can really feel that with this cute hamster. The pirates are living a very unique life. They’re really living the moment.”
The Joker Studio team used TV and film to build their references for Sea of Remnants.
Finally, we chatted about the challenges that came from having art and music be such critical focuses of the game. Kairos said Joker Studio actually took reference from modern TV and Film production.
“Usually, in the traditional process, music comes in later. But in our highlighted performances, we really need music and visuals to work together to deliver very consistent emotional feelings to our players. That’s why we moved forward with the music production earlier. We’ll have a meeting with engagement from the music team. For example, we set the color key for a sequence and then choose the right music tonality based on the color key until the completion of the assets”.
Sea of Remnants‘ art team has nailed how punk rock Piracy was. With the rebellious spirit resurging across modern art, having a game take that idea in a sillier direction has so far led to a really enjoyable experience. It’s going to be exciting to see just what this team has in store later on in the game, if the beginning has already been eternally eye and ear candy in a fun package.
Netease and Joker Studio’s Sea of Remnants is slated to release on PC in 2026.
