Frictional Games Considers New Directions
Frictional Games, the folks behind Horror games like Amnesia and SOMA, says it might be time to move on from the genre, and focus on other kinds of stories as it plans its future projects. Speaking to PC Game Spotlight, Frictional’s creative director Thomas Grip says the studio is “considering new directions” – while also hinting that its immersive, first-person style will remain a constant.
“We’re definitely not done with immersive first-person games, and we’re not done with horror either,” Grip says. “But we’re looking at different emotional qualities, and we’re not just going to do horror games forever.”
Frictional is most well-known for its horror games, beginning with The Penumbra series before creating the smash hit Amnesia. While the idea of Frictional moving away from horror may come as a surprise, I’m actually finding it quite exciting – particularly after Amnesia: The Bunker, which felt a lot more like an experimental episode than a full game, and was all the better for it.
I’m not saying I wouldn’t want to see more Amnesias in the future, but there’s something about Frictional’s games that extends beyond just the horror – the immersive environments, the high-concept stories, and the sense of experimentation. Amnesia: The Machine, which released way back in 2012, was a sci-fi adventure that felt a lot more like a BioShock game than a Resident Evil one. Amnesia: A Question of Memory was an intriguing murder mystery set in an enormous cruise ship. And, of course, there’s SOMA – a game that’s not necessarily scary, but one that creates an atmosphere that’s almost impossible to shake off.
Grip says the upcoming game that Frictional is working on now, which will have philosophical elements similar to SOMA, according to a report from earlier this year, is “not all that similar to Amnesia.” But the studio is also hiring for a narrative design position, and that has me thinking a combination of sci-fi and horror, similar to SOMA.
Whatever Frictional does next, I’m excited to see what comes next – and, fingers crossed, we’ll hear about it soon.
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