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. Fans were delighted with the game's quality despite the numerous alterations from the original. That doesn't mean Bloober Team is finished, however, as they haven't disregarded the doubt and bias directed at them during development. With their renewed credibility, they aim to demonstrate they are not a flash in the pan.

During the recent Xbox Partner Preview on October 16, Bloober Team unveiled their newest horror title, Cronos: The New Dawn. Seeking to avoid being overshadowed 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 mentioned that Cronos development began in 2021, soon after The Medium's release.

Director Jacek Zieba compared Cronos: The New Dawn to their "second blow" in a two-part combination, 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 developers, we adore Silent Hill, like, I think, most horror enthusiasts [do.]" The company even issued a statement requesting patience from fans.

Ultimately, Bloober Team succeeded, achieving an 86 on Metacritic. "They achieved the 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 pandemic-stricken, mutant-infested future.

Leveraging their Silent Hill 2 remake experience, Bloober Team is poised to progress beyond earlier titles such as Layers of Fear and Observer, which featured simpler gameplay mechanics. Zieba noted that "the foundation [for Cronos], established 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 positive about the initial response to their reveal trailer, where Piejko stated 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 developer and that they’ve discovered 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 loves horror," Piejko adds. "So I think, for us, it would be challenging to transition [to other genres], and we don't wish to."