It looks like Frogwares is shifting its focus from detective games to horror in The Sinking City 2…

 

 

At yesterday’s Xbox Partner Preview event, Frogwares unveiled The Sinking City 2. As we have reported several times, the development team fought a long legal battle for the publishing rights of the first game.

The Sinking City 2 is a survival horror game set in the 1920s in the United States and made in Unreal Engine 5.

Frogwares said in a press release that with the game, the studio wants to focus on horror after years of concentrating on detective games such as the Sherlock Holmes series.

“The original Sinking City is still one of our most successful titles, most likely because of stronger horror genre leanings and setting,” said Frogwares publishing director Sergiy Oganesyan. “We created quite a few detective adventures in the past, so now we’re going to mix things up to keep doing what people love about us – meaning story-rich experiences – while still being able to evolve. It’s exciting but at the same time risky. We’re a totally independent studio that for the past 24 years has become known for detective games. But we need to start taking bolder moves. The industry is changing around us and we want to secure the studio’s future.”

Along with the unveiling, Frogwares is also planning a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the development of the game as the Ukrainian team continues to deal with the effects of the ongoing war with Russia.

“At this stage, we have learned and adapted to our reality but the ongoing war adds an ominous layer of uncertainty, and the additional funds will help us deal with potential disruptions on top of helping fund various extra features we would love to implement,” said Wael Amr, CEO of Frogwares.

The game is a sequel to the first The Sinking City. Although the game has been called frustrating at times, it has also been said to be one of the best “Cthulhu lore” titles due to its engaging stories, exciting setting, and memorable characters.

The publishing rights to the first game were uncertain for a while. There was almost a real war between Frogwares and the original PC publisher, Nacon. Even in 2020, the game was pulled from some platforms. However, Frogwares won full publishing rights earlier this year and announced that it had settled the disputes. The original game has since returned to Steam as well.

Source: Gematsu