It looks like Bloober Team is going to be very busy in the years ahead. The Polish developer recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Konami, fueling rumours about a Silent Hill revival being developer by the studio, but it seems they have many more irons in the fire.
As spotted over on Reddit, Bloober Team has received financial funding from Creative Europe Media Programme in the European Commission, and brief outlines of three of the games that have received that funding can be found on the Creative Europe website. Each of these three is listed under codenames.
The first is H2O, which is very explicitly mentioned as Layers of Fear 3. “The market success of Layers of Fear, as well as the continued interest players expressed in a sequel, convinced Bloober Team to commence work on another game in the series,” the summary reads. “H2O (working title) will be a hidden horror game set to deliver high quality, refined gameplay. Hidden horror combines the two most important aspects of a game from the player’s perspective: a high level of emotions during play and a unique engrossing narrative. The design team’s core objective is to create a game world that will build upon selected aspects and ideas of the original Layers of Fear.” It’s also mentioned that the game’s ending will be affected by players’ actions throughout the game.
Then there’s Black, which sounds particularly intriguing. It’s a game set in the Middle Ages, and sees you fighting against aliens- which is a pretty unique combination, to say the least. Combat is largely melee-focused, and “sparse” throughout the game, and it seems like the focus is primarily on stealth and survival. There are also moral choices, and at least two different endings they can lead to.
The third game has the working title Dum Spiro, and is set during the Second World War. It sees you playing as a young boy imprisoned in a Polish ghetto, with your primary goal being to rescue your sister. “Although at first glance the game looks as presented from first-person perspective, the aim and the main distinguishing feature of the game is the destruction of the so-called ‘fifth wall’ separating the player from the presented history,” the summary reads. Again, the game is set to feature a branching storyline, with players being presented with major decisions at the end of each of its three acts, which will impact how the game progresses.
What’s interesting is that each of these three games – H2O, Black, and Dum Spiro – is listed on Bloober Team’s own website as well. It remains to be seen when exactly we’ll be hearing more about these, but clearly, Bloober Team’s got a lot on its plate.
