Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
With Layers of Fear behind it, Bloober Team is reportedly entering a new era. As the studio continues to work towards the launch of its Silent Hill 2 remake, it’s also walking away from its usual psychological horror game fare. In a recent interview, Bloober Team said that Silent Hill 2 would be the opening chapter of what the developer has dubbed “Bloober Team 3.0”: a shift towards “mass-market horror” games.
Bloober shared the details of this transition in a recent interview with Engadget where the studio discussed Layers of Fear, Silent Hill 2, and the studio’s future. Reportedly, Bloober Team has gone through several phases since its formation. Layers of Fear was the bookend of what was internally named “Bloober Team 2.0”. Bloober Team 3.0 aims to step a little further away from the niche psychological horror games that the developer has been launching since the first Layers of Fear in 2016. With the planned launch of its remake of Silent Hill 2 later in 2023, Bloober wants to move deeper into mainstream horror titles.
“This year is like closing the era of making psychological horror games,” studio co-founder Piotr Babieno said of the transition. “Right now we are going into Bloober Team 3.0, making mass-market horror… We focused on the story, we focused on the mood, we focused on the quality of graphics and music, but we didn’t put a lot of attention on the gameplay mechanics. It wasn’t our target. But we decided that there was a ceiling that we couldn’t break if we did not deliver something fresh, something new.”
Babieno claims Silent Hill 2 will be the first major example of the studio’s new direction. As it works hard on getting the remake ready, stay tuned for more details such as a concrete release date. Silent Hill 2 is still on track for launch sometime in 2023.