Instead of using the Work Log in the forums to report about development, we have decided to launch a brand new Blog. The Blog will discuss development of our upcoming game Unknown and also horror games in general.

The Blog can be found here:
http://frictionalgames.blogspot.com/

Make sure to Subscribe!

Discuss this article in the forum.

Helsingborg, Sweden - May 18, 2009
After over a year of technology development and prototyping we are finally at the tipping point as ideas comes to life on the screen in front of us. With our very first early version of "Unknown" ready, we are more confident than ever that we are on the right track as to what will become a great horror game. With the previous award winning Penumbra series to live up to we have been working hard on coming up with a concept that improves the already winning formula - horror without violence. With "Unknown" we have started from the very beginning - creating a new game engine, development tools, re-thinking and improving the physics interaction, evaluated every little part of Penumbra as to figure out the best way to create the experience.

"Unknown" is a first person survival horror game set in the 18th century. The player is caught in the middle of the unknown as he explores an old castle, dating back as far as the 14th century. With a "hands-on" physics interaction system the player can examine objects and control his surroundings in a way that is unique to the games developed by Frictional Games, for example it's possible to slowly drag drawers open to examine the inside in search for clues. To be careful is a must as the sanity of the player could quickly falter if inhabitants of the castle were to take notice of him. Different parts of the castle has widely different architecture, reflecting the centuries that has passed since the castle was initially built. Today's two screens, gives a peak of a more modern part of the castle as well as the older and decaying part of it.

At this stage of development we are confident that we can successfully demonstrate the final game and as such we send out a call to all interested publishers to contact us for their potential and welcome participation in taking this horror experience to the next level. Please visit our website for more information and to contact us through our contact page.

Screens

Frictional Games
A small studio located in the south of Sweden, developing unique technologies to power their creative game ideas. Currently with a crew of four in-house, with a network of contractors to utilize during production, enables the company to be dynamic and efficient. http://www.frictionalgames.com

Nordic Game Program
"Unknown" has received a 300 000 DKK support funding from the Nordic Game Program. To learn more about Nordic Game Program, visit http://www.nordicgameprogram.org

Penumbra Series
Survival horror game with a unique physics interaction and a dense atmosphere, creating one of the few truly horrifying experiences available on Windows, Mac & Linux. The Penumbra Series Website.

Discuss this article in the forum.

Helsingborg, Sweden - March 31, 2009
Today we are releasing a first teaser of our upcoming survival horror game, "Unknown". The video gives a quick demonstration of the mood and style we are aiming for, as well as demonstrating the maturity of the in-house developed HPL2 game engine. We have expanded the engine to include tools for testing, creating and editing levels - all of which have been used to create the level in the teaser. The tools are used during the production of the game and are also going to be part of the final release, allowing for end-user content creation.

"Unknown" has recently entered full production and is preliminary scheduled for an early Q2 2010 release.

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxJaFy5DUzs

Screens

Frictional Games
A small studio located in the south of Sweden, developing unique technologies to power their creative game ideas. Currently with a crew of four in-house, with a network of contractors to utilise during production, enables the company to be dynamic and efficient.
http://www.frictionalgames.com/

Nordic Game Program
The "Unknown" game project has received a 300 000 DKK support funding from the Nordic Game Program. To learn more about Nordic Game Program, visit http://www.nordicgameprogram.org/

Discuss this article in the forum.

Helsingborg, Sweden - March 13, 2009

Friday the 13th have by tradition been a day of horror and at Frictional we are always keen to keep traditions alive. What better day to announce that at this years "Dataspelsgalan", the Swedish Games Industry yearly award show, Penumbra: Black Plague was awarded "Best Swedish Independent Game"!

In 2007 Penumbra: Overture received "Swedish Independent Game of the Year" by the Swedish Gaming Institute. Making the recently release Penumbra Collection box not only contain one, but two awarded games with a nice additional expansion for Black Plague to enjoy.

The full Penumbra series is now available on Steam, giving gamers a great opportunity to get the collection as a digital download, should the boxed version not be horrible enough. Mac & Linux users can get the collection from our online store. Regardless of platform the collection sells for a mere 20 USD/EUR!

About
Frictional Games - http://www.frictionalgames.com
Paradox Interactive - http://www.paradoxplaza.com
Swedish Games Industry - http://www.dataspelsbranschen.se/eng/
Steam - http://www.steampowered.com

Discuss this article in the forum.

Another year soon at an end and here at Frictional we are closing to take a nice vacation until the beginning of next year. Time really goes by fast as on Thursday next week Frictional Games will turn two years old! That is based on the date the company was registered, another view at it could be when we first started to create a game with an early version of our current game engine. In that case FG is now over four years old as we begun work on Energetic in December 2004!

Looking back at the year we have to mention IGN's 13th Scariest games of this generation, a list were Penumbra: Black Plague ends up as number 4! We also would like to point towards the nice honourable mention of Penumbra: Black Plague by Gamasutra in their Best of 2008: Top 5 PC games.

Happy holidays from us here to everyone out there!

p.s as you can see the work on the new game is progressing well, latest added feature is high quality rendered particle snow flake effects! ;)

Discuss this article in the forum.