Silent Hill 2 Remake Devs Want to Prove That They've Evolved

With the success of the Silent Hill 2 Remake, Bloober Team is eager to demonstrate that they're not a one-time wonder with their upcoming projects. Dive deeper into their journey and future aspirations below.

Bloober Team's Ongoing Redemption Journey

Earning Trust and Proving Their Mettle

Over the past two weeks, Bloober Team has basked in overwhelmingly positive feedback from both gamers and critics for their Silent Hill 2 remake. Fans have been pleasantly surprised by how well the game turned out, despite the numerous modifications from the original. However, Bloober Team isn't resting on their laurels; they are well aware of the skepticism and criticism they faced during development. With the trust they've earned, they're set on proving that their success is no fluke.

During the recent Xbox Partner Preview on October 16, Bloober Team unveiled their latest horror game, Cronos: The New Dawn. Determined not to be overshadowed by their previous work, Game Designer Wojciech Piejko emphasized in an interview with Gamespot, "We don't want to make a similar game [to Silent Hill 2]." He also revealed that development on Cronos had already started in 2021, shortly after the release of The Medium.

Director Jacek Zieba described Cronos: The New Dawn as the "second punch" in a two-hit combo, following the "first punch" of the Silent Hill 2 Remake. He sees Bloober Team as an underdog, a sentiment that was clear during the initial wave of skepticism and pessimism when they were announced as the developers of the highly anticipated horror game. Despite never having proven their prowess in the survival-horror genre before, they rose to the challenge.

Zieba remarked, "Nobody believed we could deliver, and we delivered. That was a big honor, that we, as Bloober, could work with Silent Hill and Konami. As horror creators, we love Silent Hill, like, I think, most horror fans [do]." The company even issued a statement asking for patience from the fans amidst the backlash.

Ultimately, Bloober Team's efforts paid off, earning them an impressive 86 on Metacritic. Piejko reflected, "They made the impossible possible, and it was a bumpy road because of all the hate on the internet. The pressure was big on them, and they delivered, and for the company, it's an amazing moment."

Evolving Beyond: Introducing Bloober Team 3.0

Piejko described Cronos: The New Dawn as a testament to what they can achieve with an original IP. In this new game, players assume the role of The Traveler, a time-traveling protagonist tasked with moving between the past and future to save multiple lives and alter a future devastated by a pandemic and mutants.

Leveraging the experience gained from the Silent Hill 2 remake, Bloober Team is poised to evolve beyond their earlier titles like Layers of Fear and Observer, which featured fewer gameplay elements. Zieba noted, "the basis [for Cronos] when we started in pre-production was there [thanks to] the Silent Hill team."

They're positioning Cronos: The New Dawn as their latest evolution, dubbing it "Bloober Team 3.0" following the release of the Silent Hill 2 remake. The enthusiastic reception to their reveal trailer has fueled their optimism. Piejko stated that they're encouraged by the success of both the Cronos reveal and the Silent Hill 2 remake, which appears to have significantly enhanced the studio's reputation.

Zieba aspires for Bloober Team to be recognized as a horror specialist, stating, "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 complex, but it also happens organically in a way, like with [2016's] Layers of Fear, people in the studio were like, 'Okay, we made some shitty games before, but we [can] evolve."

"We gathered a team that loves horror," Piejko added. "So I think, for us, it would not be easy to switch [to other genres], and we don't want to."