On June 12th, Konami held its own showcase of sorts, titled “Press Start Live”. One of the hot announcements was the remake of the first Silent Hill, and the keys have been handed to none other than Bloober Team. With a growing list of successful psychological horror games, including the Silent Hill 2 remake, this latest announcement only proves that Bloober Team has become the gold standard in horror game development.

For those that don’t know Bloober Team, they are an indie developer out of Poland. Their debut title, Layers of Fear, released in 2016 to a Metacritic score of 75. Not bad for an indie debut. They hit their stride with The Medium, a psychological horror about a medium that visits an abandoned communist resort and leverages her dual-reality powers to solve a gruesome mystery. Its Metacritic score was also a 75, but it did receive recognition from IGN and became a Gamescom nominee for best action adventure and best indie game. Moreover, Bloober Team was able to turn a profit on The Medium within a few days of launch.

If you still think that’s small potatoes, the real test could then be placed on remaking Silent Hill 2. Konami gave Bloober Team to reins to remake the most popular entry in the series, perhaps to ride the same wave Capcom has been riding with the popularity of the Resident Evil remakes. Many Silent Hill fans were skeptical of this small, “unproven” team, and thankfully, they were proven wrong.

Silent Hill 2 remake released in 2024 with a max Metacritic Score of 87 and received several nominations in categories such as Ultimate Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards, and Best Action/Adventure Game, Best Narrative, and Best Audio Design at The Game Awards. It became the fastest selling game in the franchise after selling over one million copies in the first four days. Bloober Team was praised for staying faithful to the story while enhancing the experience with impressive graphics, controls, and chilling atmosphere.

So, why make the case that the Bloober Team is now the gold standard horror gaming? After earning its stripes with Silent Hill 2, they didn’t slow down. They are about to launch their next IP, Chronos: The New Dawn in Fall 2025, and are tasked with remaking the original Silent Hill.

Chronos: The New Dawn is an ambitious looking third-person horror game that seeks to blow The Medium out of the water. Bloober Team has created a world that thrusts the player, a Traveler, into a world fused with Eastern European brutalism and retro-futurist technology in order to search no-mans-land for rifts to dive back in time. There is still a lot of mystery behind the monsters in Chronos, which appear to merge into powerful abominations.

While I’ve been impressed with the trailers for Chronos: The New Dawn, I personally feel Konami returning to Bloober Team to remake Silent Hill speaks volumes because Konami clearly has faith in them to keep building off one of their more recognized franchises. It’s one thing if Konami threw them Silent Hill 2 and moved on, but bringing another game–the original–is the sign of a satisfied customer. If Konami has faith in them, I think the Bloober Team is doing something that horror devs should look to as an example.

This is an exciting thing to see and should be celebrated. I am always happy to witness the rise and success of any indie dev team, and the Bloober Team can pull of an atmospheric horror game well. They don’t rely on simple, cheap jump-scares or gore for gore’s sake (even though there is still plenty gore), but rather, they hone-in on the subtleties, the small things that worm into our senses and cause that chill to run up and down our spine. Yes, we have Frictional Games (Amnesia and Penumbra titles, SOMA), Monolith (with F.E.A.R), Visceral Games (Dead Space), Red Barrels (Outlast series), and Capcom (Resident Evil), but I think it’s time a new player entered the arena to bring some fresh frights into gamers’ hands.

Have you played any of the Bloober Team’s games? Who do you think is a top-tier horror game developer? Please share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.

The Boss Rush Podcast – A Podcast About Video Games

The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and The Boss Rush Network. Each week, hosts Corey Dirrig, LeRon Dawkins, Stephanie Klimov, and Pat Klein, as well as their friends, fellow content creators, developers, and industry veterans come together to discuss their week in gaming, including what they’ve been playing, a randomly chosen rotating weekly segment, the Boss Rush Banter of the week, answer community write-ins, and more. New episodes are released every Thursday. Members of The Boss Rush Network’s Patreon will receive the exclusive Pre-Show at any tier along with other perks.

For episode schedules and more information, follow The Boss Rush Podcast on X/Twitter, Instagram, and Threads.

Email the Show:
podcast.bossrush@gmail.com

Listen to The Boss Rush Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Overcast | Audio Landing Page | YouTube

Join Our Community:
Discord | Facebook | LinkedIn

Featured Image Source: Bloober Team

Sources: Bloober Team, IGN, Wikipedia