In an update to its investors, Bloober Team has revealed that it is not developing a new entry in the Layers of Fear series. Rather, CEO Piotr Babieno has noted the studio is currently working on “two large projects” split between its production teams. Both of these projects have been described as horror games with an emphasis on storytelling. More details are slated to be revealed at “several important industry events.”
While one of the production teams is currently in the pre-production stages of a new original project, much of the team that worked on Cronos: The New Dawn, is now helping another team with polishing its projects.
“The creative part of the team is currently conducting pre-production work on a new original project,” said Babieno (via machine translation). “At the same time, most of the [‘Cronos‘] production team is currently supporting the polishing process of selected projects implemented within our second-party segment. After completing the pre-production stage, the team will gradually transition into full production of the new project.”
After the support work has been wrapped, the team behind Cronos: The New Dawn will work on Project H, which has been described as the one in pre-production. The budget for this project is also not expected to exceed the budget for Cronos.
“One of the advantages of specializing in a single genre is the ability to leverage many elements of our production pipelines and the experience we’ve gained in subsequent projects,” said Babieno. “At the same time, from the outset, we’re designing this game as a project with significantly greater sales potential. In this regard, we’re conducting numerous analyses and market research to help us best tailor the project’s scale and positioning. As for the release date, it’s still too early to provide specific dates.”
As for Layers of Fear 3, which was announced back in February, Babieno revealed that Bloober Team is co-developing it with another studio, while the studio itself continues to offer “significant input”. He also went on to note that, aside from one project that it is working on alongside an external publisher, all of Bloober Team’s in-development games are being financed by its own funds.
“Importantly, except for one project implemented in collaboration with an external publisher, all other projects are currently financed from the company’s own funds,” he said. “This means that in recent years we have made a number of investments, the effects of which should be visible in the coming years.”
Layers of Fear 3 was officially unveiled after a long, mysterious countdown on a strange website. However, no details had been revealed about the title, including release platforms or a release window. Its announcement coincided with Bloober Team celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Layers of Fear franchise, which saw its first release all the way back in 2016.
As for Bloober Team’s other works, the studio had released Cronos: The New Dawn just last year on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for more details. The studio has also confirmed that it is working on remake of the original Silent Hill.