Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is getting a ‘cinematic cut’ premiering at a Czech film festival: ‘A proud moment for games as a serious storytelling medium’

In a move I’m gonna say none of us predicted, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is getting shown at a film festival. That’s not a film version of the game’s story—it’s the game itself, cut down into some sort of “cinematic cut” that Warhorse is hailing as “a proud moment for games as a serious storytelling medium.”

Per a post on Warhorse’s X, “The world premiere of the KCD2 Cinematic Cut will take place on 9 July,” and will feature as part of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Special Screenings section.

I am desperate to know what the heck this thing is going to look like. Is it just going to be one of those YouTube supercuts that splice all a game’s cutscenes together? Will there be gameplay snippets for all the parts where story info is conveyed while the player is still in control of Henry? Is a hapless audience unwittingly signing themselves up for an unbroken 80-hour Let’s Play? I hope it’s that one.

Alas, neither the festival nor Warhorse are keen to provide details until the big day, though they are saying all the usual rosy words: “I have wished to see Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 on the big screen for a long time,” says Warhorse CEO Martin Frývadlský. “I believe that the civil story of a blacksmith’s son will also appeal to film audiences and stand up to the competition of international movie productions.”

Is that true? I’m not so sure. Don’t get me wrong, I loved KCD2 (enough to score it 90% in our Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 review) and think its story is pretty great, but I also think the best way to imbibe that story is through the game’s strange, rambling, imsim-flavoured interactivity. I don’t know that you’re really getting the KCD2 experience if you’re not getting diverted to rob every store in Kuttenberg, or taking on roadside fights you quickly learn you can’t win, or picking dialogue options that reveal Henry can get trashed enough to speak fluent Hungarian.

But maybe I’m wrong. Someone should probably send me to the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival to find out.