Alone in the Dark (2024)

It looks like Embracer continues its shitty M.O. and shutters another studio:

Alone In The Dark Proves That Games Aren’t Allowed To Fail Anymore

Video games used to be an art form where every single thing didn’t need to set the world on fire. Developers could afford to try new ideas, take risks, and embrace failure because they knew that even if reviews were middling or sales were passable, they had a chance to dust themselves off and try again. That time has passed, and the medium is forever worse off.

Alone in the Dark launched earlier this year and was neither a critical nor commercial success for developer Pieces Interactive or publisher THQ Nordic. The studio was already victim to a round of layoffs recently, but I don’t think any of us expected them to be shut down. But to save money and recoup losses, that is precisely what parent company Embracer Group has done. The announcement was quietly made via the official website and is heartbreaking for its brevity, as ten years of hard work and creativity were snuffed out in an instant.

Now new and existing studios aren’t allowed to grow, build portfolios, or establish what they do well without a surefire hit on their hands, but such games don’t come from nowhere. They are products of individual creative visions, tight-knit teams, and audiences who are followers of the genre and willing to support them. As a teenager, I could pick up a game I’d never ever heard of before and have it change my perception of video games forever, but every day we are moving further and further away from that. The things we play cost so much and take so long to make, that anything that doesn't take over the world is doomed to stagnate.

Alone In The Dark (2024) developer is facing layoffs a mere month after the game dropped.

And that really blows, because this game was excellent. I rated it 5⭐, and I think it's the true return to survival horror the broader games industry seems reluctant to engage in. It's my present frontrunner for GOTY, and I think it's one of the best horror games of the generation. Certainly better than what Resident Evil's been putting out since after RE2 Remake dropped.

But let's be real - marketing was almost nada. And fair enough, Embracer is broke... But the narrative around this game before it launched seemed to be, "Alone In The Dark is shit, so this game is gonna be shit." Like the "influencer" world completely shit talked this game without ever playing it, and I have no doubt that also heavily impacted sales. It was dismissed as "another one" (referring to the truly awful Alone In The Dark Inferno and Illumination), and laughed at for being done by a studio that previously did mobile games.

But a great game is a great game. And Alone In The Dark is great. The devs did a bang-up job, and they deserve a kudos and stable work.

The game has fewer than 1000 reviews on Steam, which seems to suggest lousy sales overall. I'm glad I got my physical copy, cuz I can almost guarantee this is going to be one of those games that pops off when it's rediscovered as a hidden gem.

Lads and Lasses and Wonderful Enbies, this game is fan freaking tastic so far in the first hour. Combat is a bit naff, but the tone, atmosphere, and utterly disorienting narrative paired with a downbeat moody jazz soundtrack...

If it continues like this, I have an early GOTY favourite. I really like how it gives you the option to be guided through the game or solve puzzles and read clues on your own accord.