Silent Hill 2 Remake: Devs Showcase Evolution

With the triumph of the Silent Hill 2 Remake, Bloober Team aims to demonstrate their capabilities with their subsequent project. Read on to learn more about the team’s next project and their future plans.

Bloober Team Aims to Continue Their Redemption ArcBuilding Trust and Demonstrating Skill

The past two weeks have yielded only positive feedback from players and critics concerning Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 remake. Enthusiasts were delighted by the game's quality despite the numerous alterations from the original. That doesn't imply Bloober Team is finished, however, as they haven't disregarded the doubt and bias directed at them during production. With their restored reputation, they aim to demonstrate their lasting capabilities.

During the recent Xbox Partner Preview on October 16, Bloober Team unveiled their newest horror title, Cronos: The New Dawn. Seeking to avoid being defined by their previous success, Game Designer Wojciech Piejko stated that "We don't want to make a similar game [to Silent Hill 2]," in a Gamespot interview. He also indicated that Cronos development commenced in 2021, soon after The Medium's launch.

Director Jacek Zieba compared Cronos: The New Dawn to their "second blow" of a two-part attack, with the "first blow" being the Silent Hill 2 Remake, considering themselves an underdog. This was clear during the initial doubt and negativity the studio faced upon being announced as developers of the acclaimed horror game, as they hadn't previously demonstrated their ability to create a survival-horror game.

Zieba stated, "Nobody believed we could succeed, and we did. That was a great honor, that we, as Bloober, could collaborate with Silent Hill and Konami. As horror creators, we love Silent Hill, like, I think, most horror fans [do.]" The company even issued a statement requesting patience from fans.

Ultimately, Bloober Team succeeded, achieving an 86 on Metacritic. "They achieved the seemingly impossible, and it was a difficult journey due to all the online criticism. The pressure was immense, and they delivered, and for the company, it's a fantastic achievement." said Piejko.

Not Their Final Form: Bloober Team 3.0

Piejko depicted Cronos: The New Dawn as a project intended for anyone capable of developing an original IP. In their newest game, you embody a time-traveling protagonist, The Traveler, journeying between past and future to rescue individuals and alter a dystopian future ravaged by pandemic and mutants.

Leveraging their Silent Hill 2 remake experience, Bloober Team aims to surpass their previous titles, such as Layers of Fear and Observer, which featured simpler gameplay mechanics. Zieba noted that "the foundation [for Cronos] during pre-production stemmed from the Silent Hill team."

They’ve also indicated that they view this as their latest advancement as "Bloober Team 3.0" with the launch of the Silent Hill 2 remake. They’re upbeat about the initial response to their reveal trailer, where Piejko noted that they’re heartened by the success of the Cronos reveal and the Silent Hill 2 remake, which appeared to enhance the studio’s standing.

Zieba desires Bloober Team to be recognized as a horror studio and that they’ve identified their strength, saying, "We want to find our niche, and we think we found our niche, so now we just--let's evolve with it. [...] And how that happens is more intricate, but it also happens naturally in a way, like with [2016's] Layers of Fear, people in the studio were like, 'Okay, we made some subpar games before, but we [can] evolve."

"We assembled a team that appreciates horror," Piejko adds. "So I think, for us, it would be challenging to transition [to other genres], and we don't intend to."