Ever since The Shining terrified book readers and moviegoers, hotels have been a popular setting for the horror genre. There are a number of horror video games set in creepy hotels, and soon another can be added to the list, as Wales Interactive has announced Maid of Sker.
Maid of Sker is a new horror game that will launch on PC, PS4, and Xbox One at some point in June, with a Nintendo Switch release planned for October. Maid of Sker is set in 1898, and it tasks players with exploring the eerie Hotel Sker. Players will have to avoid dangerous enemies all the while taking in a "chilling story" that has been inspired by Welsh folklore and British horror. Maid of Sker will also use re-imagined versions of Welsh hymns, which should go a long way in ensuring that the game is sufficiently unnerving.
As far as the story goes, Maid of Sker is written by the same people who wrote the horror games SOMA and Don't Knock Twice. It's primarily based on the folktale of Elisabeth Williams, who died of heartbreak in the 1800s.
Additional details on Maid of Sker are scarce beyond what horror fans can put together from the trailer. The developers have confirmed that there will be no weapons for players to defend themselves, and that combined with the first-person view gives it a distinct Amnesia: The Dark Descent-vibe. However, it remains to be seen if the game can live up to the titles that inspired it.
The developers of the game previously worked on the live-action horror game The Bunker as well as the aforementioned Don't Knock Twice. These certainly aren't the most well-received horror games ever made, but they still have their fans. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see if Maid of Sker manages to earn stronger reviews than its predecessors.
Maid of Sker isn't the only first-person horror game to be announced recently. Monstrum was recently confirmed for consoles, and cyberpunk horror game Observer: System Redux was confirmed for PS5 and Xbox Series X. If Maid of Sker is popular enough on current-generation platforms, one has to imagine that the developers would consider a next-gen port of the game as well, though nothing has been announced at the time of this writing.
Maid of Sker launches June 2020 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, with a Nintendo Switch release date in October.