It has been a couple of months since fans have heard any official news from Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama. Most would likely recall the announcement stating that his new company, Bokeh Game Studio, is currently producing a new horror title. Now, another interview has been published by the company, and this time, founder, producer, and COO of Bokeh Game Studio, Kazunobu Sato, shares more about his game development journey, including some details about their ongoing project.
Sato is mostly known for his work on the horror series Siren, which can be considered by fans as one of the best horror games during its time period. Originally working on the characters for the Siren series, he eventually came into the role of game producer for Sony Interactive Entertainment's The Last Guardian. However, according to Sato, when Toyama had approached him about a new project, he had decided to come onboard to help found and become producer for Bokeh Game Studio.
In a spotlight video published on the official Bokeh Game Studio YouTube channel, Sato outlined a brief history of his experience as a game writer and then producer. At around the nine minute mark, Sato talks about the upcoming horror title he is working on with Toyama. When Toyama presented him with the game's concept, he initially thought it would make for a "terrible game." He says this because of how the game will "mess with the player's mind." This comes from the fact that the gameplay will have players make choices, and for each choice they make, there must be a sacrifice. And according to Sato, these sacrifices will scale highly within the game, therefore making each choice quite painful, and mentally stressful, for the player.
He also talked a bit about first meeting Toyama for a job interview. Albeit being another fan of the Silent Hill series, Sato shared that he did not know until after the interview that he was talking face-to-face with Toyama already. Being both a founder and producer of Bokeh Game Studio, he was very transparent about issues of balancing funds that ensure the production of a good quality video game, while also keeping the company afloat during the middle of the pandemic.
With the amount of horror games in the market today such as Phasmophobia, The Medium, and Resident Evil Village, it seems the audience is ripe for another Silent Hill-esque title. Unfortunately fans will have to wait longer for official news as Bokeh Game Studio has yet to announce the actual name and release date of their upcoming game.
Source: Siliconera