Amnesia Developer Unveils Exciting Shift Away from Horror Games

Highlights

Frictional Games, famed for its spine-chilling games, is charting a different course for its upcoming projects by diverting its attention from the horror genre and shifting its focus towards exploring other avenues of emotional engagement.

According to the creative director of the studio, they firmly believe that the core principles of immersiveness and evoking genuine emotions can be successfully realized in an alternative genre.

Frictional Games, known for the critically acclaimed Amnesia series, sees itself as more than just an indie studio. With a desire to rival AAA studios, their aim is to create the ultimate gaming experience across various genres. In a recent interview, the creative director of Frictional Games shared the studio's future direction, stating that they will be exploring new horizons and moving away from horror elements in their upcoming projects. This change comes after the immense success of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, which catapulted the studio into the spotlight and laid the foundation for the beloved Amnesia franchise.

Frictional made its debut in 2007 with Penumbra: Overture, followed by a sequel titled Penumbra: Black Plague the next year. These horror games introduced aspects like physics puzzles, exploration, and a narrative conveyed through discovered written notes, which would later become defining features of the studio's work. Their breakthrough came in 2010 with the release of The Dark Descent, which quickly gained popularity and solidified Frictional's position in the survival horror genre.

However, despite its strong presence in horror, Frictional is now seeking to venture into different game genres. In a recent interview, Thomas Grip, the studio's creative director, discussed their history and future plans. Grip expressed the intention to "scale back on the horror elements" in upcoming projects to emphasize other emotional qualities. Creating immersive experiences and evoking emotions in players have always been Frictional's primary design objectives, and Grip believes that these goals can be achieved through different genres. Many of the most beloved immersive video games are not necessarily horror-based, supporting Grip's sentiments.

In addition to this announcement, Grip also discussed various other topics in his interview. Notably, he expressed that despite its small size and development budgets, Frictional Games should not be considered an indie game studio. Grip believes that Frictional does not compete on a lower level compared to large AAA studios. While there are many highly regarded indie games, Grip and his team do not want to embrace the indie label. They strive to create the best experience in any genre they choose to work with, even if it means competing with games from AAA studios.

Ignoring personal opinions, Grip's interview reveals Frictional's future design direction, which is the most significant aspect. It is understandable for a development team accustomed to working only in one genre to desire experimentation, but how fans will respond to a non-frightening experience from Frictional remains uncertain. As Frictional is primarily known for survival horror, venturing into different genres risks losing the distinctive atmosphere of their games and possibly alienating loyal fans. However, numerous renowned game franchises have successfully changed genres over the years, showing that the outcome of Frictional's decision to move away from horror is far from certain.