High on Life is getting an animated series, and one of its stars - not that one - is producing it

It’s IP all the way down these days.

Squanch Games’ High on Life is going the way of the animated series, with the voice behind one of its talking guns serving as producer.

As reported by Deadline , Curb Your Enthusiasm actor JB Smoove is currently set to produce an animated adaptation of the 2022 comedy shooter High On Life. Apparently Smoove’s new production company, Alternate Side Productions, will be working on the show alongside original developer Squanch Games , as well as Striker Entertainment, and while he hasn’t officially been cast yet, Deadline has heard there’s a strong chance he will. Russel Binder and Mandy Bardisbanian from Striker Entertainment are also set to executive produce the series too.

In a statement, Smoove said, “When Squanch Games originally reached out to JB Smoove (I like to talk about myself in the third person) about voicing a character in their incredible video game High On Life, my first question was what does my character look like? They told me that I would be a fish that shoots…which makes perfect sense to me! As a Vegan I feel a fish should have the right to defend itself! I mean right?!

“And now that I’m partnered with Squanch Games and Striker Entertainment to bring the hilarious High On Life to series it feels like it was inevitable! They invited me to join them in the gaming universe and now I’m helping them move into the TV world! It’s a case of a game recognizing game! High on Life is wild, weird, and wonderful, and the series is going to be that and more! Get ready to laugh your way through space with some unforgettable characters like myself! We are locked and loaded and ready to go!”

While I can imagine several cast members returning to voice their characters for the series, there’s one notable one unlikely to. In 2023 it was reported that Roiland had been arrested and charged with felony domestic battery and false imprisonment in 2020, with this report then leading to further allegations of abuse by the actor. This then led to his removal from the show he’s best known for co-creating, Rick and Morty, as both a writer and voice actor, and he also resigned from Squanch Games.

High On Life

PC

Next week’s big Xbox Box Game Pass game will be detested

Are you ready for a ‘marmite game’? It’s been a long time, but it looks like Xbox Game Pass’ upcoming title will be quite divisive.

The best thing about Xbox Game Pass , for my money, is the way it lets you experiment with things in a relatively consequence-free manner. For example, I always thought I’d love Loot River – it’s exactly my kind of jam; roguelite elements, dark pixel art, unforgiving combat. Thanks to the tite’s arrival on Game Pass, though, I didn’t need to drop the full price on the game only to discover it wasn’t really for me after a few hours. I might have wasted some time, but I didn’t waste any money. Decide for yourselves whether that’s better or worse.

Are you gonna play it on your potato–– err, Xbox Series S?

Next week, I think a lot of people are going to get to see this specific perk of Game Pass rise to the surface. Why? Because Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland and Squanch Games are launching High On Life to the service on Day One. The studio’s take on first-person shooters is obnoxious, loud, crude, and irritating – and some of you are going to absolutely detest it. And I can’t wait to see the fallout of it.

And you don’t just have to take my word for it; Alex wrote about this earlier this year, and he came away from the demo with the same outlook as me: High on Life is actually funny, and is funniest when it leans into its very niche gaming humor . The game is self-aware and meta (I can sense that’s already turned more people off), and provides a commentary on quite a lot of gaming tropes in a knowing, smarmy way.

This knife likes to kill. Obviously.

That’s not to say it’s bad, per se: it’s just a lot. Roiland is trying to do what he does best in High on Life, but substituting the fourth-wall-breaking mad scientist of his TV show for the player-referential guns in games. It’s in-your-face adult humor, but delivered by colorful characters that look like they’re intended for kids. But – for the love of God – don’t let your kids play this.

What do you think? Will you like this?

High On Life looks set to continue a rich gaming tradition of being a comedy game that actually has too much comedy in it – it didn’t work for Duke Nuke Em, it didn’t work for Deadpool, and it might not work for this. But hey, maybe it will – Rick and Morty has attracted millions of fans around the world for a reason, and maybe High on Life won’t work without Roiland’s partner in crime (and Community overlord) Dan Harmon, but maybe it will. Maybe this game will be more Double Fine than Gearbox, more Discworld than Saints Row. We’ll have to wait and see. Good job we can play the whole damn thing via Game Pass, ey?

From what I’ve played so far, I think High on Life balances on the comedy tightrope quite well. The unending stream of foul language gets a bit rote – even in an hour-long demo! – but some of the situations the game puts you in or the lines it delivers work well. Alex, in his piece, mentions this guy that has idle dialogue that he cycles through before you actually talk to him, and if you stop and listen, you hear him musing on his life as a video game NPC, destined to wait and hang out, performing a mundane task until finally the player comes to speak to him. It’s a glib, knowing take on gaming conventions that lands well.

I don’t trust this dude.

In that way, High on Life is reminiscent of Conker’s Bad Fur Day, more than anything else: it’s puerile, it’d be hilarious for a 12-year-old, but it also lands its mark on a more adult audience, too.

And that reinforces my point quite elegantly, actually: imagine if Conker’s Bad Fur Day had been on Game Pass, back in the day – it’d have been a hit, this odd little curio that many more people would have discovered, and found joy in.

High On Life

PC

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