I confess that I forgot Frogwares was making The Sinking City 2, following its battle with Nacon over control of the original game. The announcement was made exactly a year ago, with a cinematic trailer and a few details: like the shift to survival horror and only optional detective work.
Now we can see the game in action—or at least some pre-alpha footage. The new trailer shows off some appropriately gloomy locations, all flooded and dilapidated, before introducing us to the rogue’s gallery: a series of foul beasties, including one that will munch your face right off. Delicious!
Set, unsurprisingly, in 1920s Arkham—Lovecraft Central—we’ll be investigating a supernatural flood that’s turned the residents of the city into a bunch of weirdos, accompanied by plenty of eldritch monstrosities.
A five-minute dev diary also digs into the different sides of the game: the investigative elements, the survival horror and the gruesome combat.
Frogwares has also launched a Kickstarter campaign. It’s looking for just over $100k, which it says will serve as a safety net due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. A similar campaign ran for the excellent Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened remake, which also delved into Lovecraftian territory.
“After three years of this horrid war hanging over our daily lives, we’ve learned to adapt, though it has never been easy,” says CEO Wael Amr. “In 2023 when we released Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened with the help of Kickstarter and our loving fans, we built ourselves a safety net that saved us more than once. From power outages and the need for team members to relocate on short notice, to having to pause development for days, this safety net was crucial. Given that The Sinking City 2 is a far more complex and demanding game, we’ve decided to take the same route as before.”
From power outages and the need for team members to relocate on short notice, to having to pause development for days, this safety net was crucial.
CEO Wael Amr
Frogwares is one of several Ukrainian game developers still trying to create art and entertainment despite the Russian invasion of their country—an incredibly impressive feat. Last year, for instance, saw the launch of Stalker 2 from fellow Ukrainian studio GSC Game World.
The Sinking City 2 represents a shift for the studio, which was perhaps best known for its Sherlock Holmes games. Now it sees itself as a horror studio first and foremost.
“When we announced The Sinking City 2 back in 2024, we stated this is going to be our chance to shift our studio into creating games that are more ‘horror first’ focused and the results we’re all seeing internally are extremely promising,” says publishing director Sergiy Oganesyan.
This doesn’t mean Frogwares is done with detectives, though. “We’re not ditching our investigation roots entirely but the chance to spread and challenge our norms has really helped the team grow,” Oganesyanhe adds. “We’ve placed combat and exploration first while still keeping an air of investigation that adds depth but is entirely optional.”