The Polish game developer, Bloober Team, known for the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake, has revealed a new project in partnership with Skybound Entertainment. The studio gained attention with the release of Layers of Fear in 2016, a psychological horror game inspired by PT, the playable teaser for the canceled Silent Hills. Since then, the company has continued to release horror games such as Observer, Layers of Fear 2, Blair Witch, and The Medium.
Skybound, the entertainment company collaborating with Bloober Team, was co-founded by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. It has ventured into various media, from comics to television, films, and video games. Skybound Games, its gaming subsidiary, primarily focuses on publishing indie titles but also contributed to the final two episodes of Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Final Season.
The two companies are joining forces for a new game project named R, which is anticipated to debut in 2025. In the announcement, Bloober Team disclosed that a licensing and publishing agreement has been signed, indicating that the new game will not be an original IP. President Piotr Babieno expressed confidence in the collaboration, stating, “I am sure that it will be a successful cooperation.”
In June 2023, Bloober Team announced that it is transitioning away from creating psychological horror games after the Silent Hill 2 remake. The studio is undergoing a transformation to focus on creating “mass-market horror” with its version 3.0. Project R with Skybound appears to mark the initial step in that direction, leading to speculation about the involvement of The Walking Dead in the licensing agreement.
Kirkman’s The Walking Dead has achieved immense popularity in comics and television shows, with Telltale being one of the few successful studios to bring the post-apocalyptic world to video games. While there have been numerous attempts, November’s The Walking Dead: Destinies faced criticism on social media, and Ocean Interactive and Skybound Games ceased development of and removed The Walking Dead: Betrayal from Steam shortly after its launch. If Bloober Team is venturing into The Walking Dead territory with Project R, it could potentially rival Telltale’s interpretation of the zombie franchise.