Amnesia developer Frictional Games plans to "cut back a bit" on horror games

Amnesia developer Frictional Games plans to “cut back a bit” on horror games

Time Stamp: July 22, 2023 7:42 AM

Horror masters Frictional Games have announced plans to “cut back a bit” on horror games “in order to give greater focus on other emotional qualities”.

In an interview with 80.lv (thanks, NME), creative director Thomas Grip talked about the studio’s next steps after the recent release of the excellent Amnesia: The Bunker, revealing plans to “explore themes outside of making things spooky”.

“At Frictional, we work on games holistically. This plays a crucial part in how our games look and feel. While all of our games have been horror in some way, what we really try to do is to get a kind of ‘playable immersion’,” Grip said. “Horror games naturally are where emotions are front and centre. Games really excel at this. However, we are also exploring themes outside of making things spooky.

Here’s 10 minutes of Amnesia: The Bunker gameplay to show it in action.

“For future projects, I think we will cut back a bit on the horror aspects in order to give greater focus on other emotional qualities,” they added. “I am confident that these games will still feel like Frictional ones. The immersion, the personal journey, and a holistic vision are what I see as defining traits of a Frictional game – not just horror as such.”

Interestingly, Grip also pondered on the studio’s heritage, saying they are “not sure they have ever thought of Frictional as an indie”, saying instead that whilst the team used to use publishers and are fully self-funded, they do not “see us competing on a lower level” with indie teams.

“While we might not have the budget for larger-than-life cutscenes, in terms of raw immersive experience, we compete with all games on the market,” Grip said.

“We want to be the ones that make the best experience in whatever genre that we choose to work with, even if that is populated by games from AAA studios. I’m not sure that makes us any less indie, but for me personally, I am not sure I have ever embraced the title.”

Have you checked out Frictional’s latest release, Amnesia: The Bunker, yet?

“At one point, when I staggered out of the dark into a huge, gaping crater out in the open, bullets whizzed past my head again, and for a long moment, the sound confused me, and I wondered what they were,” I wrote in my Amnesia: The Bunker review, in which I called Frictional’s latest horror a “return to form” and awarded it 4 out of 5 stars.

“It’s a testament to how terrifyingly tight Amnesia: The Bunker’s hold is – even though you start the game stumbling through the soaking trenches, I forgot all about the war; I forgot about everything. Even creeping around a wartime bunker with reminders of conflict everywhere, I forgot. For the rest of the game, the only thing I cared about was my next save point, my beloved generator, and the terrifying thing that crashes around in the dark.”

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