Silent Hill 2's development was rough on Bloober Team because of online 'hate', but now that it's proved itself it wants to 'show what we can do on our own' with Cronos: The New Dawn

GamesHorrorSilent Hill 2Silent Hill 2’s development was rough on Bloober Team because of online ‘hate’, but now that it’s proved itself it wants to ‘show what we can do on our own’ with Cronos: The New DawnWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Bloober Team)

A factory being ripped apart

Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 was a pleasant surprise. While the studio had been responsible for several fairly well-received horror games since its pivot to the genre with 2016’s Layers of Fear, none of them boasted the sophistication of Team Silent’s GOAT. There was a gulf between Bloober Team’s spooky walking sims and the 2001 twisted survival horror game, and expectations were not high.

I found Konami’s decision to choose the studio to be baffling at the time. I quite liked Observer, its gloomy cyberpunk outing, but I found the Layers of Fear series to be both derivative and, when it came to the scares, pretty cheap. Silent Hill 2, though, seems to have shown it was up to the challenge. While we called it a “fun but flawed take” on the original in ourSilent Hill 2 review, it’s gone on to be the studio’s greatest success, and currently enjoys an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating onSteam.

“They recreated a legendary game,” Bloober Team director and designer Wojciech Piejko toldGameSpot. “They made the impossible possible, and it was a bumpy road because of all the hate on the internet. The pressure was big on them, and they delivered, and for the company, it’s an amazing moment.”

“It was tough for those couple of years before [Silent Hill 2’s] release,” director and producer Jacek Zieba added. But the team didn’t let it get under their skin. “They made it. We made it. And now, it’s very good spirits inside [the studio]. We want to show what we can do on our own, how we can evolve our ideas.”

That evolution isCronos: The New Dawn, the studio’s first original survival horror game. The project started to spin up after the launch of The Medium in 2021, so it’s been in the works concurrently with Silent Hill 2, with a different team.

It’s set both in 1980s Poland and a pandemic-ravaged future, and as a fan of Bloober Team’s previous sci-fi outing—also set in its homeland of Poland—my interest is piqued.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

The studio considers this stage of its evolution to be “Bloober Team 3.0”, its second phase as a horror developer. “We want to be a horror company,” Zieba said. “We want to find our niche, and we think we found our niche, so now we just—let’s evolve with it.”

The specifics of how it plans to evolve “is more complex,” he added, “but it also happens organically in a way, like with [2016’s] Layers of Fear, people in the studio were like, ‘OK, we made some shitty games before, but we [can] evolve.'”

In a separate interview withIGN, Piejko also kept the door open for more Silent Hill games from the studio. “There are opportunities that you have to seize,” he said. “Like Silent Hill 2, you can remake the legend. So yeah, I do believe that everything’s possible.”

Unsurprising, given how well Silent Hill 2 is doing. But the fate of the series is ultimately up to Konami.

More about horrorSure, I’m scared of my own shadow, but that doesn’t stop me from forcing my friends to play The Outlast Trials with meThis year has proved yet again that horror games do best when devs keep it small-scale

More about horror

Sure, I’m scared of my own shadow, but that doesn’t stop me from forcing my friends to play The Outlast Trials with meThis year has proved yet again that horror games do best when devs keep it small-scale

The outlast trials personal pick

Sure, I’m scared of my own shadow, but that doesn’t stop me from forcing my friends to play The Outlast Trials with me

Close up of Curly post-crash in Mouthwashing, showing his one remaining eye and bandaged body.

This year has proved yet again that horror games do best when devs keep it small-scale

Latest

Dead By Daylight: The Junji Ito Collection

See more latest►

Most PopularPath of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better lootPalestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 NakbaPiranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod sceneSorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our faultTeam Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40KIs the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anythingIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fabI tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bay

Most Popular

Path of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot

Palestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 Nakba

Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’

Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene

Sorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our fault

Team Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40K

Is the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.

Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anything

If you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 off

AMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fab

I tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bay

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals