Zombie Studios, which is responsible for online free to play FPS Blacklight: Retribution and first person horror title Daylight, is closing down. According to the developer, “The owners of Zombie Studios are retiring”.

It’s especially amazing when you consider that the developer has been around for roughly 20 years and was responsible for creating the Spec Ops franchise. Blacklight: Retribution will be handed over to a new start up studio called Builder Box but at this point, the future of other assets and IPs hasn’t been revealed.

Zombie Studios doesn’t seem to be facing any financial trouble either. A recent farewell letter from the studio at least didn’t reveal such issues and it seems to be more of a peaceful retirement more than anything else.

What are your thoughts on the closure of Zombie Studios and the future of Blacklight: Retribution? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned for more information.

Game Overview:

In Daylight, the players take up the role of a  woman named Sarah. Just like in any horror game, Sarah regains consciousness in an abandoned hospital. She then hears a mysterious voice who tells her to find the mysteries of the hospital. With only a cell phone as a survival means, Sarah must find more about the hospital’s shady background and escape this nightmare.

Daylight  is developed by Zombie Studios and is published by Atlus. The game is now available for the PlayStation 4 and PC.

Check out the video walkthrough of Daylight below and let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

For video game guides, tips and wikis, check out our gaming portal here.

Daylight sees you playing as Sara, who wakes up in an abandoned building with only a smartphone and some odd maze-like drawings appearing on her left arm. She is guided by an old, seemingly creepy but altogether cryptic old man that hints at the dangers ahead while also providing some slight snippets of the story. You’ll run around the hospital, picking up notes relating to deceased patients and the trials they endured along with references to the “shadow people”.

"But then, as you progress past doors and gather Sigils - which trigger odd memory montages that don't really clue you in to anything - many of the rooms start to look awfully similar to each other."

For the first half hour or so, Daylight is a daunting experience in enduring horror. You only have the light of your smartphone to guide you through along with a miniature map that shows the areas you’ve visited before. The notes help you discover the various Sigils to unlock doors and advance further, but aside from the glow sticks and flares, there’s little to no light in this hospital. Every scrapping foot-step, flickering light and moldy old box is your foe, seemingly taunting you from the beyond while invisible entities swat and move furniture in plain view. For its first real psychological horror game, Zombie Studios has a strong showing when it comes to horrific, nigh-claustrophobic tones.

But then, as you progress past doors and gather Sigils – which trigger odd memory montages that don’t really clue you in to anything – many of the rooms start to look awfully similar to each other. A bathroom with two stalls, one closed and one open? Seen it. A staircase that offers a box of glow sticks and flares, while leading to two doors on either side, both locked and thus forcing you to backtrack? Seen it. The rooms indicating the Sigils, which are only unlocked after you collect enough notes, are also mirror images of each other.

Oftentimes in horror, it’s not always about how much of the ghosts you show but how little. The mind is always capable of coming up with images far more horrifying than any designer could present. Games like Outlast and Amnesia: The Dark Descent furthered this notion in their own unique ways – the former continuously introduced newer and newer horrors to deal with, eventually culminating in an ethereal Walrider, while the latter simply ramped up the appearances of its one key foe, The Shadow.

"It will only take you 2 to 3 hours to trudge through the darkness, but there's no deeper meaning to Daylight's horror, no impending doom or escalating horror even as it picks up near the end."

Daylight’s spooky kooks are the Shadow People, many of them resembling patients that died in the hospital under various, shady circumstances. The psychological stranglehold they have on the player is offset by the fact that they can “burned” by using flares. Yes, that’s right – you can actually fight back against the ghosts here. Granted, flares are limited and the best times to use them are when you’ve been ambushed. They serve as a twitch response to save you in these instances. However, Daylight reuses the same exact “Something’s suddenly behind you!” scare. In some rather comical instances, you can light a flare up and dash through hallways, extinguishing the ghosts just as they materialize in front of you. There aren’t memorable set pieces or gruesome discoveries. There aren’t any complex puzzles to solve or overzealous monstrosities to fight. You have nowhere to hide from the Shadow People either. Your best bet is to back track where a set of flares is located and fight them off but you’ll almost never be challenged to outsmart your enemies.

It’s also a shame that one of Daylight’s biggest hooks – it’s randomly generated hospital rooms – works against its beautifully atmospheric visuals so much. Even with a game like Outlast utilizing the same setting, Zombie Studios uses Unreal Engine 4 to create a genuinely skin-crawling environment. Nothing is as it seems – or so you’d think – and the run-down, decaying walls, numerous bottles of formaldehyde, shattered windows and eerily lit rooms help suspend your disbelief long enough.

Daylight encourages you to replay it to fully understand what’s going on. This feels like an even bigger task than it should be seeing as you quickly tire of the same mechanics and layouts in your first playthrough. It will only take you 2 to 3 hours to trudge through the darkness, but there’s no deeper meaning to Daylight’s horror, no impending doom or escalating horror even as it picks up near the end. The story’s pacing takes such a far backseat to atmosphere that you eventually tire of being scared and just wait for something to grab you. There are some good mechanics on display but as a whole, Daylight is the least memorable fright night of your life.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Offloading parellel tasks and harnessing and mastering the PS4’s computing power can lead to massive gains for developers which can even equal the power of the PS3’s Cell, claims Daylight development team Zombie Studios.

“Properly utilizing Compute shader functionality can certainly add a lot of life to a game,” the devs of the game said in an interview with WorldsFactory, “and as developers mature with the new hardware we should expect massive gains from offloading highly parallel tasks from the CPU to the GPU.

“The trick will be defining what processes are good for Compute shaders to take over. Mastering Compute on the PS4 will be similar to mastering CELL on the PS3, but it has the advantage of being a technology that is valid for all current platforms.”

Hopefully this means that completely harnessing the PS4’s computing powers will be easier and more common in games developed not just be first party developers, but other, outside third party devs as well.

Daylight releases today on the PlayStation 4 and PC. Check out our full interview with Zombie Studios here and and stay tuned for our full review.

Zombie Studios’ Daylight, a psychological horror game slated to release early this month but will now be out on April 29th for PC and PS4. To help you wait – or rather, provide more time to dread over the upcoming horrors – publisher Atlus has released a new trailer for the game which demonstrates how there truly is no escape. Check it out above.

Much like Red Barrels’ Outlast, Daylight sees you navigating an abandoned hospital. Playing as Sarah however means you have no memories of how you got there and must follow the ghostly voices to escape. You’ll be armed with a cellphone, which acts as your flashlight and map, and no weapons. To make things even more frightening, the hospital’s layout is randomized each time you start the game, ensuring total surprise at each corner.

Also, Zombie Studios revealed that on April 29th for two weeks, PS Plus subscribers will be able to avail of the game for $9.99 while non-subscribers get it for $11.99. PC players can pre-order the game right now till April 29th for $9.99 after which it will retail for $14.99.

What do you make of Daylight? Let us know your terrified thoughts in the comments below.

It’s also the first game to utilize Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4, which is catered to the next-generation consoles. GamingBolt spoke to studio director Jared Gerritzen about what inspired Daylight, the development process behind the game, how the previous experience of developing Blacklight Retribution helped when creating Daylight for the PS4 and much more.

What was the inspiration behind developing Daylight?

Jared Gerritzen: Our whole team is a fan of the horror genre and we really wanted to create a game that could not only scare you, but was a true experience every time you played. Movies/shows like Silent House, American Horror Story and The House on Haunted Hill have all shaped our ideas and turned them into something really cool and creepy with Daylight.

Why did you decide to go with Unreal Engine 4 as opposed to say the CryEngine 3?

Jared Gerritzen: Zombie has heavily invested in Unreal technology over the last few years.  Throwing all the knowledge away to transition to a different engine represented a significant amount of cost without an obvious award.

"The procedural creation of content is definitely something that is new to the genre, and it gives the game a huge replayability factor since you’re not experiencing the same scares over and over. The player will never truly know what’s lurking around corner."

Will the PlayStation 4 version run at 1080p/60 fps?

Jared Gerritzen: Its our target, but 1080 is our first priority. Being the first UE4 game on the first cycle of the PlayStation 4 dosent give us the leeway that the last genaration has with with lesser known tech, some parts will have to have balance.

What sets Daylight apart from other previous or upcoming horror games?

Jared Gerritzen: The procedural creation of content is definitely something that is new to the genre, and it gives the game a huge replayability factor since you’re not experiencing the same scares over and over. The player will never truly know what’s lurking around corner.

Why did you pick an abandoned hospital as the main theme/levels for Daylight?

Jared Gerritzen: The hospital is an important part of the storyline as you get into the game, but it’s not the main level. It’s definitely the first place you begin exploring, but there is so much more that you will find as you wind your way through the halls.

" Creating a game that continues to scare you is also about creating a good story. Daylight is a psychological horror game that can really get into your head and make you feel what the main character is feeling. The things you encounter won’t be the same, and the environment layouts won’t be the same, but the storyline will be the same."

How are the procedurally generated levels have been working out so far for Daylight?

Jared Gerritzen: Procedural generation is a huge part of what makes Daylight so different. There is no way to map out a path in your head after the fact, because it won’t make sense when you start the game over again. Our own team gets lost in the game, and that is a true testament to how crazy the Daylight world is.

How do you keep the game fresh despite the fact that everytime you start it over, you’re put into new encounters/level layouts?

Jared Gerritzen: Creating a game that continues to scare you is also about creating a good story. Daylight is a psychological horror game that can really get into your head and make you feel what the main character is feeling. The things you encounter won’t be the same, and the environment layouts won’t be the same, but the storyline will be the same. You’ll want to keep coming back to get more elements of that story you might have missed earlier, it’s very compelling.

Will there be any sort-of story DLC that might include a continuation with completely new levels themes such as a forests, or maybe even an abandonded facilities?

Jared Gerritzen: Initially we considered releasing the game in episodes, but after partnering with Atlus we thought we would just go for it, so you’ll be getting the full game on release and it’s definitely worth it.

"Currently we have no plans to put Daylight onto platforms other than PlayStation 4 and the PC."

How long does it complete one entire session of Daylight on average before starting over for a new experience?

Jared Gerritzen: That truly depends on the player, but we estimate that each playthrough could be 30-40 minutes. Since the player is unable to memorize where they have already been.

What is your personal favorite thing about Daylight?

Jared Gerritzen: Daylight actually really freaks me out! I almost wish I knew what was going to happen so I didn’t jump out of my seat, but that is part of what makes the game so great.

The ID@Xbox policy seems to be gathering pace in the last few months. Are there are plans to bring this game to the Xbox One?

Jared Gerritzen: Currently we have no plans to put Daylight onto platforms other than PlayStation 4 and the PC.

"We recently announced a Twitch Chat Stream integration that will allow viewers watching a live stream of Daylight to spook the player even further by typing out a word that corresponds to a sound in-game."

You guys already have a game for the PlayStation 4 in Blacklight Retribution. What kind of development lessons have you learnt from that experience and used them in developing Daylight for the PlayStation 4? Have you been able to push it further this time around?

Jared Gerritzen: Developing on the PlayStation 4 is great, and since Daylight is the first Unreal Engine 4 title to come out on the console, we’ve been really pleased with the entire process. We recently announced a Twitch Chat Stream integration that will allow viewers watching a live stream of Daylight to spook the player even further by typing out a word that corresponds to a sound in-game. We obviously had to time this to prevent spamming, but this interaction is yet another way Daylight creates a very cool (and creepy) experience.

What kind of benefits does the Unreal Engine 4 bring when used with the unified memory architecture of the PlayStation 4? Furthermore how has the PS4’s architecture helped you do things that would not have been possible, say on the PlayStation 3?

Jared Gerritzen: Very direct access to texture memory is a major advantage of having unified memory.  This access allows us to work with render targets easily without being forced to write a bunch of specialized code desgined to simply move data between buses.

Is there anything else you want to tell our readers about Daylight?

Jared Gerritzen: We are absolutely looking forward to seeing all your streams and scares, and can’t wait to see what you guys do with the Twitch chat integration!

Thanks for your time, Jared. It was great talking to you again.

Zombie Studios is currently busy with Daylight for the PC and PS4 and besides being one of the few psychological horror games for the next generation, it’s also the first commercial release to use Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4. How does it take advantage of the PS4? Also, given the studio’s experience with the PS4 with Blacklight Retribution, how have they been able to further push the hardware this time?

Studio director Jared Gerritzen stated, “Developing on the PlayStation 4 is great, and since Daylight is the first Unreal Engine 4 title to come out on the console, we’ve been really pleased with the entire process.

“We recently announced a Twitch Chat Stream integration that will allow viewers watching a live stream of Daylight to spook the player even further by typing out a word that corresponds to a sound in-game. We obviously had to time this to prevent spamming, but this interaction is yet another way Daylight creates a very cool (and creepy) experience.”

As for the benefits that Unreal Engine 4 brings when used alongside the PS4’s unified memory architecture and how it makes things that wouldn’t be possible on the PS3, Gerritzen said, “Very direct access to texture memory is a major advantage of having unified memory. This access allows us to work with render targets easily without being forced to write a bunch of specialized code designed to simply move data between buses.”

The team also opted for Unreal Engine 4 as opposed to, say, CryEngine 3 because, “Zombie has heavily invested in Unreal technology over the last few years. Throwing all the knowledge away to transition to a different engine represented a significant amount of cost without an obvious award.”

Daylight will be out on April 8th for the PC and PS4. Stay tuned for more updates on the game.

Zombie Studios’ Daylight is a literal collection of firsts. It’ll be the studio’s first psychological horror game (no, Saw doesn’t count) and it will be one of first few games using Unreal Engine 4 to scare the living daylights out of us (get it?). With that in mind, will it deliver in the visual department and run at 1080p resolution and 60 FPS on the PlayStation 4?

We got in touch with Studio Director Jared Gerritzen and posed the same question. “Its our target, but 1080p is our first priority. Being the first UE4 game on the first cycle of the PlayStation 4 doesn’t give us the leeway that the last generation has with lesser known tech, some parts will have to have balance.”

As for whether Daylight will ever release for the Xbox One under the ID@Xbox banner – especially since indie games under the programme will begin rolling out in March – Gerritzen says, “Currently we have no plans to put Daylight onto platforms other than PlayStation 4 and the PC.”

Daylight will be out on April 8th for PC and PS4. Stay tuned for more details and let us know what you think of the game thus far.

Earlier we had reported that Daylight  is being released in April according to an IGN preview. Now the upcoming survival horror title Daylight will be releasing on April 8th for the PS4 and PC, developer Zombie Studios has confirmed, and it will cost $14.99/€14.99/£11.99.

The devs have also announced that Daylight will be 3D compatible out of the box, and for those who are interested, it also supports Oculus VR.

The PS4 and PC versions of the game will also have some very neat media integration, with the PS4 version supporting the DualShock 4’s Share button to a great capacity. “The example we’ve been tossing around (and is in no way final) is that someone watching a stream types the word “Meow” into the chat, which causes the game to make a corresponding sound of a cat,” the developers said in their press release, just to give you an idea of how this work.

“So yes. You can literally scare your friends now by watching them stream. There are two caveats to this: 1. They’re all on timers, so you can’t spam them. That would be ridiculous. 2. We’re not going to tell you the full list of words. You’re going to have to find them through experimentation.”

The devs also also announced two new areas for the game, namely a prison and a forest.

Stay tuned for more info.

In between all the hype for The Evil Within and Dying Light, it’s easy to forget about Zombie Studios’ Daylight – a psychological horror game set in an abandoned sanitarium full of ghosts. Well, at least we think they’re ghosts. Who knows? A recent IGN preview has indicated that we may have a chance to find out soon as Daylight will release in April for the PS4 and PC.

Running on Unreal Engine 4, Daylight follows the Outlast and Amnesia style of horror. You have no weapons and can only rely on your phone, which provides a map and a light for seeing in the dark. It doesn’t help that the game consists of randomly generated levels, thus trying to surprise you at every turn.

A concrete release date is yet to be provided but we’re looking forward to how Daylight plays out. Stay tuned for more updates and news on Daylight as we approach release.