We Happy Few of his father three weeks before "Contrast" shipped. During this time, he had reflected on his state of life, and came up with ideas for "We Happy Few" in his emotional distress, particularly the idea of a society fixated on drugs and masks. Provost presented this to his creative team, who saw the possibilities of expanding on this. Narrative director Alex Epstein considered the idea similar to "Prozac Nation", and where in current times, there is a prescription drug for every conceivable malady. The title of the game comes from the St Crispin's Day Speech from "Henry V": Narratively, the
We Happy Few the society of the time". Dystopic fiction was a common influence. Provost stated that a primary influence was the 1985 dystopian film "Brazil". Other influential works include "The Prisoner", "A Clockwork Orange", "Brave New World", "V for Vendetta" and "Doctor Who", along with the humor of Monty Python and "Blowup" for the game's aesthetics. Some of the Compulsion team, including Provost, had been with Arkane Studios during a time where they were secretly developing an episode for the "Half-Life" series, also set in a dystopian world, which carried into "We Happy Few". Provost felt the belief of citizens that they