Swedish developer Frictional Games, famous for the Penumbra and Amnesia series, shared its intentions to tone down the horror elements in its future games.
In an interview, creative director Thomas Grip explained that the emotional investment is the most important aspect of a game from Frictional Games, rather than the fear factor (via 80lv). “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’,” he said.
Referring to Amnesia: Rebirth‘s themes of motherhood and SOMA‘s philosophical questions on how we define a human being, Grip praised the team’s “holistic” efforts to balance both these complex subjects as well as an entertaining and terrifying experience.
“We delivered these themes within a horror context, but those stories could be told in another genre,” continued the creative director. “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.”
“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,” he summarised.
Frictional Games recently released Amnesia: The Bunker, set in World War 1. Protagonist Henri Clément is a soldier trapped with a monster that reacts to the choices that players make in their attempt to escape death. Its next title is said to be a “bigger” sci-fi horror that hones in on the “kind of philosophical stuff like you saw in SOMA.”
In other gaming news, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate voice actor Victoria Atkin expressed her concern over the use of artificial intelligence to simulate actors’ voices in mods.