Will draw inspiration from a sub-genre of ‘death game’.
Keiichiro Toyama – the creator and director of Silent Hill, Siren, Gravity Rush, and more – teased his new studio’s upcoming horror project, with some tantalizing hints and some appropriate unnecessary concept art in a new video for developers.
Toyama, you remember, left SCE Japan Studio (where he worked for more than 20 years) at the end of 2020 and at the same time announced his new company, Bokeh Game Studio.
Bokeh is also home to several other alumni of SCE Japan Studio – including the lead designer of Gravity Rush, Junya Okura and Kazunobu Sato, who worked on The Last Guardian and Puppeteer – and the team’s first project will see Toyama return to his terror comes.
Focus – Keiichiro Toyama.
Toyama shares some insights on this still unnamed project in a newly released bokeh commercial video, in which he explains: “The view I have of horror is that everyday life is shaken. Instead of showing scary things, should it question our position, we challenge the fact that we live peacefully … I would like it to be the theme of my next game. ‘
Instead of concentrating on pure horror, however, Toyama says he wants to keep elements of the genre while the contestants ‘feel excited when they play’. Therefore, he draws inspiration from the popular sub-genre ‘death game’, which he regularly reads and enjoys.
“These works tend to provide entertainment in somewhat cruel worlds,” he explains. “You let these regulars drive them into irrational situations. They’re emotionally at the forefront while dealing with action or drama. It affected me and I think it will show in my next game.”
This is all the information Toyama is seemingly willing to share at the moment, but the video touches on a number of other topics, while also providing some striking concepts of art images, ranging from strange insect-like creatures found in human flesh living to grimly shattered faces and other shaky abominations. It’s, in other words, worth checking out if you want early tips on where Toyama’s imagination can take him and us next.