For Vancouver’s Hothead Games, there’s a lot riding on Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One. Not only is it the first video game to be released by the fledgling studio, it must stand up under the scrutiny of devoted fans of the comic strip Penny Arcade. Somewhat counterintuitively, the latter may have been the more intimidating of the two burdens.

Penny Arcade started as an on-line strip and accompanying blog by, about, and for cultural geeks, and video gamers in particular. But creators Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins have grown the business into a burgeoning media empire that includes the Penny Arcade Expo, a yearly game convention in Seattle, and Child’s Play, a charity that has raised millions of dollars for children’s hospitals around the world. They also served as art director and writer, respectively, on the video game that bears not just their brand but their alter egos, Gabe and Tycho.

In an interview at Hothead’s Yaletown offices, Joel DeYoung, the company’s chief operating officer and producer of Precipice, told the Straight that involving the pair in its development was one reason Hothead won the opportunity to create the game. It was also a big hurdle to overcome. “They know games, but they aren’t game developers, so that was definitely a learning experience for us and for them,” DeYoung said.

The game was created to appeal to Penny Arcade’s existing audience, which was a benefit due to the built-in sales opportunity and a challenge because attempting to fulfill the expectations of fans is always fraught with peril. That’s why in the game, Gabe and Tycho are voiceless. “It would have ruined it for everybody,” DeYoung said. Fans of the comic strip, he suggested, already hear the voices of the characters in their imagination.

It’s also why the game has a rating of mature. “It would have been certain death not to go M,” DeYoung said, “because that would be perceived as not authentic. It would be making compromises to appeal to a broader audience.”

As if all that wasn’t enough of a challenge for DeYoung and the other Hotheads, they also decided to make Precipice episodic. The first episode, released at the end of May, will be followed by Episode 2 sometime this fall. DeYoung said each episode should take six to 10 hours to play. The current plan is to release new episodes every four months or so.

While Hothead hasn’t announced how many episodes are planned for Precipice, DeYoung said that the company knows internally how many segments will make up the premiere season of Penny Arcade Adventures. The story arc has been planned, and DeYoung doesn’t expect that fans who sink themselves into the tale will be disappointed by a cancellation, which so often happens in the world of television.

“Nothing is ever guaranteed, but we’ve always believed strongly in this franchise and Penny Arcade, and how much of a committed audience they have, so I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t see it right through. And if it’s successful, let’s do another season. Let’s keep making games.”