Iconic Interactive, a newcomer to the gaming scene, has unveiled its first project, The Oversight Bureau, slated to arrive on PC in 2025.
The announcement came during NVIDIA’s GeForce ON Community Update, where the studio revealed a puzzle game unlike anything on the market – blending AI-driven voice interaction with an Orwellian dystopian narrative.
In The Oversight Bureau, players find themselves confined to the CUTE Reprogramming Centre, a sterile facility that won’t release you until you’ve proven yourself a suitably ‘compliant’ citizen. Progress comes not through button presses, but through spoken dialogue. Leveraging NVIDIA’s ACE technology alongside Iconic’s proprietary Narrative Engine, the game allows players to talk directly to in-game characters to advance through puzzles.
Iconic Interactive’s Narrative Engine functions in two layers: one AI model interprets player sentiment, while the other crafts responses, expressions, and behaviors tailored to the unfolding story. This balance of controlled narrative and player agency promises an immersive experience that stays on script without feeling rigid.
Studio founder and CEO Junaid Hussain emphasized that the project uses AI as a creative amplifier, not a substitute for human storytelling. “The Oversight Bureau is unlike anything else in gaming right now. We’ve worked tirelessly to create a world where technology heightens immersion while preserving artistic vision,” Hussain said. He also thanked NVIDIA for spotlighting the debut title during the showcase.
While a short gameplay clip demonstrated the concept in action, questions remain about whether the full release can sustain its ambition or if it risks collapsing into a tech demo curiosity. Either way, it’s one of the most intriguing PC titles on the horizon for 2025, aiming to merge narrative depth with cutting-edge AI performance.