Blumhouse Productions, purveyors of fine horror films like M3GAN, Get Out, Split, The Invisible Man and The Black Phone, has announced a major foray into the world of video games via the establishment of a new game development studio.
Like its parent company, Blumhouse Games will focus on sharing creative, immersive horror tales on tight budgets, with the studio aiming to produce a variety of PC and consoles games under the US $10 million mark. This work will be overseen by Zach Wood, a 30-year veteran of the games industry who previously worked on Prey: Mooncrash, The Unfinished Swan, and Bound, and Don Sechler, a veteran of Sony PlayStation. Both will report to Abhijay Prakash, the current president of Blumhouse.
‘We’re in the scary story business. We do films, we do TV and there is this massive, growing segment in media and entertainment called gaming,’ Prakash said of the company’s foray into the world of video games. ‘The space is hundreds of billions of dollars; we’re in a great position to try and access it.’
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The company will reportedly seek out original horror tales for its latest venture, with aims to invest in around 15 new horror titles over the next 3-4 years.
According to Bloomberg, Blumhouse previously attempted to get video game adaptations of its major films off the ground, but these did not eventuate. Rather than pursuing this goal, it appears the company will focus on telling fresh stories in the horror genre.
‘Through my time in the industry, I’ve had the good fortune of working closely with developers to bring their ideas to life,’ Wood said in a press release. ‘There’s a unique opportunity for horror and genre in the indie game space, and I’m thrilled about teaming up with Blumhouse to meaningfully leverage the company’s brand, reputation, and creative talent.’
Blumhouse Games aims to push ‘creative boundaries’ as it embarks on its debut projects – although we’re unlikely to see the fruit of this labour just yet. Stay tuned for more news on the terrors cooking at Blumhouse Games in future.
