The Evil Within 2 launched nearly six years ago, and there’s been little to no indication from Tango or Bethesda that a third game will ever get made, though a Hi-Fi Rush easter egg might be suggesting that that could happen soon.

A cutscene before the beginning of the game’s penultimate chapter (or track, as the game calls them) sees Chai and company riding an elevator to confront the final boss. As the elevator reaches its destination, its screen is shown very briefly. Right on the bottom of that screen, a news ticker reads, “sequel to popular survival horror game franchise announced”.

Sure, The Evil Within isn’t explicitly named- but that wouldn’t be much of a cryptic tease, would it? The survival horror genre is flourishing right now, more so than even in the past, and it would make sense for Tango to go back to its beloved series for a new mainline entry. At least that’s what fans of the franchise will be hoping for.

Supposedly, Ghostwire: Tokyo, which launched last year, was originally planned as The Evil Within 3, so clearly a new instalment in the series is something that Tango has been thinking about for a while.

At the very least, it seems like it’s still something the studio considered picking back up not long ago. As reported by GameSpot, Tango says that when work on Ghostwire: Tokyo started, the project was initially planned as The Evil Within 3, but it changed enough during development that the studio decided to turn it into its own thing.

Apparently, the “essence” of The Evil Within 3 “lives on” in the upcoming game, but as Tango has stressed since the beginning and as gameplay footage has made abundantly clear, in spite of its unsettling premise and vibes, Ghostwire: Tokyo is clearly going for something very different in terms of its gameplay and design.

What that means for The Evil Within and its future remains to be seen, of course, but fans of the survival horror series will be hoping it will get a new lease of life in the future, especially under Microsoft’s ownership. The Evil Within 2 didn’t perform well on a commercial front, though there’s hope that it’s a franchise that Tango Gameworks might return to in the future.

Ghostwire: Tokyo, meanwhile, is out for PS5 and PC on March 25. You can check out the game’s PC requirements through here.

The Evil Within 2 is going to be two years old later this year, and judging by the fact that there was a three year-gap between the releases of the first two games, that would mean that we’re getting closer to The Evil Within 3- if there is an Evil Within 3, that is.

For those who’re hopeful that the horror sequel is announced at E3 next week – as I am – this new bit of news might give you some hope. The father of the survival horror genre, Shinji Mikami – also the creator of The Evil Within and boss of developers Tango Gameworks – has confirmed via Twitter that he’ll be at E3 next week.

Now, that doesn’t necessarily have to mean much. There is the chance that Tango Gameworks have been working on something else, or that they’re announcing nothing an Mikami’s presence at E3 has nothing to do with a new game- but again, we’re hopeful that it’s not.

Either way, E3 is less than a week away now, so we’ll find out soon enough. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more updates.

来週はE3出張

— 三上　真司 (@shinji_mikami) June 2, 2019