Upcoming horror video game The Medium is developed and published by Polish game developer Bloober Team. This is the company that is best known for developing Layers of Fear, Observer, and Blair Witch: all horror games. Lead Game Designer Wojciech Piejko even said the upcoming title they are developing right now is inspired by the Silent Hill series.
It has, however, a distinct difference compared to the previous titles that they have developed. Players are able to travel between two worlds, which are the real world and the other of the spirit realm. Marianne, the protagonist and a medium living between two worlds, is able to shift between two worlds. The immersion would be better if shifting from one world to another would be seamless. According to the developer, it is now possible with the power of Xbox Series X hardware.
Game producer Jacek Zieba revealed that a medium was the best choice for tackling these two different points of view. Marianne was that medium who could see behind the curtain of our reality.
With this concept of two worlds in mind, this game is the largest and most ambitious game the studio has developed to date. They developers promise that players can seamlessly shift between the two worlds in this game with no discernible load times or impact to game performance and graphics. This is all thanks to the power of the Xbox Series X.
Bloober Team Chief Marketing Officer Tomasz Gawlikowski actually divulged that the technology that enables this (shifting between worlds seamlessly) is proprietary. This has made them excited and even sought for a patent on its design.
Gawlikowski continued:
We are very proud of it… this kind of technology, it’s restricted to our game. If ever, I don’t know, Activision or Sony, or whoever, would want to use something similar to what we are using right now […] they would need to ask for our permission.
Piejko was hesitant to reveal more details, but he did say that the game and all of the puzzles in it are built around those two worlds. Those two worlds would also interact with each other in a way. If something happened in one world, it would also have a result in the other. To overcome any obstacle or defeat monsters, players will need to interact those two worlds hence the need for seamless shifting between them.
The lead game designer also hinted something about the locations:
We can say that the game is not happening only in the hotel… that’s just the beginning of it…
The power of the next generation consoles especially the Xbox Series X has made this all possible. These statements have only made a lot of interested gamers intrigued of what to expect when The Medium is finally completed and ready for distribution.
The Medium will launch in the holidays 2020 for Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC via Steam.
Interview source: Gamesradar+
