During today’s Xbox Partner Preview event, Frogwares unveiled The Sinking City 2, following a lengthy legal battle over the publishing rights of the first game.
The Sinking City 2 is a survival horror game set in the 1920s USA, powered by Unreal Engine 5. Players will explore a semi-open world and battle the monsters of the Ancients as the tide changes the landscape of Arkham City .
In a press release, Frogwares announced its intention to refocus its studio on the horror genre after years of focusing on detective games such as the Sherlock Holmes series.
The original The Sinking City is still one of our most successful games, most likely due to its stronger horror leanings and setting. We’ve created a lot of detective adventures in the past, so now we’re going to mix genres to continue doing what people love about us – story-rich games – while evolving. It’s exciting, but at the same time risky. We are a completely independent studio that has become known for detective games over the past 24 years. But we need to start taking bolder steps. The industry is changing around us and we want to ensure the future of the studio.
In addition to the announcement, Frogwares plans to launch a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to help fund the game’s development.
At this point, we have learned and adapted to our reality, but the ongoing war adds an ominous layer of uncertainty, and additional funds will help us deal with potential disruptions, as well as help fund the various additional features we would like to implement.
Our previous game, Sherlock Holmes The Awakened, was entirely developed and released during the war. Thanks to Kickstarter and our backers, we’ve created a safety net for ourselves that has saved us more than once. From power outages as our electrical infrastructure was under attack for months, to having to relocate team members at very short notice, this financial safety net has proven invaluable to us. So we need to do the same now with The Sinking City 2, since this game is much bigger and more complex.
As a reminder, the rights to publish the first game were in limbo for some time between Frogwares and the original PC publisher, Nacon. In 2020, the game was even removed from some platforms. However, earlier this year, Frogwares won full publishing rights and announced a settlement.
The Sinking City 2 is planned for PC, Xbox Series and PS5.
