Experienced Game Devs Reveal Debut Horror Game, Displacement
Obelisk Studio is responsible for creating assets for a number of well-known games, including Fallout 76, DOTA 2, Sons of The Forest and Call of Duty. Now, the studio’s revealed its debut first-person horror game, Displacement, and where it stands in terms of development.
Displacement takes place in a polar research base, where everyone has been taken over by an unknown madness. As a psychiatrist, the player starts off unaffected but can slowly give into insanity, which starts to affect the gameplay itself.
“Your goal is simple: survive in a hostile and rapidly deteriorating environment. The player must resort to the most radical means of survival – including some good old-fashioned ultraviolence. But the constant stress of isolation and the claustrophobic atmosphere will slowly erode your character’s sanity,” Obelisk said in a press release.
The Cold is Your Enemy
The other people in the base have formed cults, of which there are three, each with its own tactics and enemy types. But, the temperature and weather are also against the player. There’s a focus on maintaining body heat, too, which can be affected by the game’s cold mechanic: open a door to the outside, and the freezing weather will rapidly fill the interior, turning surfaces to ice.
Players can fight the encroaching cold with heat, as well as use the cold to their advantage by getting locks to freeze and break, for example.
“Survive not only the cults that hunt you, but the merciless cold that seeps into your bones. Warmth is life. Fire is hope. Every spark counts.”
As well as dealing with fluctuating temperatures, players can use the environment against their enemies. Almost everything can become a weapon, from flipping tables to breaking bottles, alongside an arsenal of 20 melee weapons such as sledgehammers and axes.
Indie Games And Major Clients
Displacement is Obelisk’s first game as a studio, after working for years to produce assets for well-known clients and titles. This includes other media, most notably characters for Love, Death And Robots’ Bad Travelling episode from season three.
Displacement got a financial helping hand at the start from The Games Fund, an organization formed by game industry veterans based in the US and Europe, that accepts pitches from independent studios. However, Obelisk now needs extra support to help finish Displacement’s development.
“We’re tired of endless live-service titles and loot boxes – it’s time to bring back atmospheric, hardcore single-player experiences. Let’s return to an era where a small, passionate team could create something that rivaled multimillion-dollar corporate projects.”
“If you believe the industry needs games like this – wishlist our game, share it, talk about it,” the developers added. “We’re ready to fight. But we can’t do it without you.
