From Until Dawn to Little Nightmares, Supermassive Games’ ideas have sparked some of the best horror games of the last decade, reviving gamers’ interest in the genre.
Supermassive Games has been one of the pioneers of the modern horror gaming landscape. It’s been an uphill climb, with only 23.2% of video gamers regularly playing games in the survival horror genre. However, interest has been on the rise in recent years, in no small part due to the success of games like Until Dawn.
Released in 2015, Until Dawn is an interactive horror game where players can get in on the drama by making different choices, tasked with saving the lives of eight young adults in-game. It’s a nail-biting thrill ride for the type of fan who shouts out what characters should do during a horror movie.
Until Dawn first appeared on PlayStation 4, welcoming a limited but devoted player base and their praise. The developers have recently remastered and improved the game, available to play on Steam and PlayStation 5 this October.
Until Dawn is a choice-based game, varying from inconsequential actions to moral dilemmas. In playthroughs, gamers would pause during each decision, fearing how it’d impact the rest of the story and characters. These real, often fatal consequences are directly the result of the player’s actions, building up the psychological horror aspect even further.
Following their success, the British video game developer has released other horror games, experimenting with VR technology to develop titles like Until Dawn: Rush of Blood and trying to establish a new standard for what gamers expect from the horror genre.
Supermassive Games found this via their Dark Pictures Anthology, a collection of games following in Until Dawn’s choice-based lead. The series lets you experience supernatural, cinematic horror, giving players the option to play alone or with a friend through the Shared Story mode. Supermassive Games CEO Pete Samuels noted that the company had to study the properties of stories across 39 horror subgenres to develop dynamic stories and themes for the Dark Pictures Anthology.
The anthology began with Man of Medan in 2019, a gripping horror game in which travelers are sent to an isolated ghost ship. It was followed by Little Hope, which follows a college group traveling to an abandoned town. The third installment, House of Ashes, required players to navigate an underground temple and fight off deadly monsters.
The Devil in Me wrapped up the first half of the anthology, showcasing a documentary film crew that needs to escape a dangerous island. Each game featured a teaser trailer at the end of its predecessor’s credits. Whether the Dark Pictures Anthology will always follow separate storylines or merge into one large metastory is uncertain.
Supermassive Games is leading the movement of what horror games should be. Many more developers are starting to understand that the genre is supposed to create feelings of dread and uncertainty, moving past simple jumpscares and improving eerie designs.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen the spike in cinematic horror continue to grow, with visually stunning remakes of Dead Space and the Resident Evil series capitalizing on the re-sparked love for the genre.
The newly acclaimed Silent Hill 2 remake is only the latest to latch onto the craze. Still, few developers have managed to recapture that same feeling of terror and regret that only comes with seeing a player character permanently die as a result of the player’s decisions.
Most recently, Supermassive Games has embraced its role in the horror landscape by partnering with Bandai Namco for Little Nightmares III. The game follows in the sizable footsteps of the previous two beloved games, similarly published by Bandai Namco but developed by Tarsier Studios. Little Nightmares III, currently in development with a planned 2025 release, features two tiny children named Low & Alone as they navigate out of a massive, dangerous world.
Fans of the series will find the setup familiar, as the disturbingly dark puzzle platforming has become iconic among the horror gaming community. The storytelling is dark and confrontational yet surprisingly endearing. It will be interesting to see Supermassive’s approach, especially with their experience in 2D platforming via the much more light-hearted LittleBigPlanet series.
Similarly, fans will be thrilled to see the continuation of the Dark Pictures Anthology next year. The second season is expected to begin in 2025, starting with Directive 8020. Both the studio and its competitors seem to have more up their sleeves, so you can expect the horror gaming landscape to get better than ever.
Editor Bio
Jack Shaw is the Games editor of Modded Magazine, having spent six years writing in the entertainment and tech space. During this time, he’s covered everything from new releases, deep-dive reviews, pop culture developments and tech innovations. In addition to his work on Modded, Jack’s writing has been published in EEPower, YFS Magazine, Parent Co. and more.
