Following rumors that horror game developer Bloober Team is remaking the legendary Silent Hill 2, CEO Piotr Babieno has said he can not comment but hopes to make an announcement on the company’s future projects “as soon as we can”. He added that its unannounced project “will still be a Bloober Team title”, even though it was made in collaboration with another company. Babieno also explained that future Bloober games will be bigger and more gameplay-focused than before, and will not be “walking sim” -like experiences.
Babieno spoke to IGN at the Polish game conference Digital Dragons and reacted to rumors (first reported by influencers Nate the Hate and subsequent journalist Jeff Grubb) about a Silent Hill 2 Remake by saying:
“We can not comment on anything we do because we value our relationship with our partners, of course. So we can not [say] anything. We will post an announcement on our future projects as soon as we can. Then you will know much more. “Clucking, he added,” Officially. ”
Bloober Team entered into a partnership with Konami – owner of the Silent Hill series – last year. Since then, several reports have linked the developer (who developed horror games Layers of Fear, Observer, Blair Witch and The Medium) with a Silent Hill project. It was even forced to deny that some of its unused game concepts were planned Silent Hill titles. Bloober previously confirmed that it is simultaneously working on two titles, one with Konami, while another to be released by the Private Division is a new IP. Babieno tells me that a third title is in pre-production.
Later in the interview, I asked Babieno about the company’s experience working with a licensee in the Blair Witch case, and the CEO briefly referred to one of Bloober’s upcoming projects, making it clear that his company’s approach is to make games on its own. conditions, even if it is within someone else’s franchise.
“I would say that it is difficult to work with someone who [owns an IP you’re working on]but we always talk to the licensors [saying] “We would like to use your license, but we would like to tell our own story.” If we are not able to tell our own story, if we do not want creative freedom, it does not make sense, because the Bloober Team will not make a great game, “said Babieno.” If you’re in jail, you will could not fly. So therefore we only try [make] the titles where we feel, ‘OK, this is going to be a Bloober Team game, not any [else’s]. ‘ So even on the project we can not talk to each other [about]it will still be a Bloober Team title. “
Babieno did not make it clear that this was a reference to the Konami title, but it feels likely since Bloober’s Private Division game is a new IP. If that’s the case, and Bloober is working on Silent Hill, Babieno’s words could be seen as meaning that the company is applying its own ideas to Silent Hill 2, or alternatively that its Silent Hill game is actually a whole new story in the series. . The CEO did not comment further on these lines.
More generally about the future of the Bloober Team, Babieno said the company aimed to change the kind of game it makes while sticking to the dark, psychologically focused subject areas in which it specializes.
“There are a lot of people in our team who want to play bigger games, with more gameplay, with some game mechanics [we haven’t used before] because most of our previous titles were experience-like, right? It was more about the mood, about the story, not necessarily about gameplay. […] We want to make games that tell our stories based on the game mechanics. So you can expect each of our future titles to have a lot of game mechanics. Those titles are getting bigger. “
He added that Bloober’s games would continue to move away from the “walking simulator” approach of its early successes, such as Layers of Fear.
“It’s not a big leap, it’s rather evolution, but right now we’re well prepared to make games similar to Hellblade, to name a few. [one example]. But I’ll say we still want our DNA – those games will still belong to the Bloober Team’s legacy, and they’ll be bigger. We want to tell stories [through gameplay], it will not be walking sim kind of experience in the future, but still, the subject, the emotions that we would [we would like our fans to feel]they remain, “Babieno said.
Aside from the rumors of a Silent Hill 2 remake, images from what is rumored to be a brand new Silent Hill were revealed last week – and quickly deleted following a copyright claim. The deletion appears to give credibility to their authenticity, although Konami has not commented.
Silent Hill 2 is still one of the most beloved games ever released. We called PS2’s psychological thriller one of the best games ever and called it “an exploration of the depths of human depravity and the effects it has on people and places around us that few video games have dealt with with such disturbing grace and maturity.”
Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Do you have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to nyhedstips@ign.com.