"Next-Gen Blade Runner Game Scrapped by Until Dawn Studio"

Supermassive Games, known for their gripping horror titles such as Until Dawn, The Quarry, and the Dark Pictures anthology, has reportedly halted development on an unannounced Blade Runner game. According to Insider Gaming, the project, titled Blade Runner: Time To Live, was envisioned as a character-driven, cinematic action-adventure set in 2065. The game was to feature a narrative centered on So-Lange, a vintage Nexus-6 model tasked with eliminating the leader of a replicant underground network. After being betrayed and left for dead, So-Lange's journey would have involved elements of stealth, combat, exploration, investigation, and intense character interactions.

Insider Gaming disclosed that Blade Runner: Time To Live was backed by a development budget of approximately $45 million, with $9 million allocated specifically for external performance capture and acting talent. The game promised a 10-12 hour single-player experience, with pre-production kicking off in September 2024 and a targeted release in September 2027 across PC, current, and next-generation consoles. However, the project reportedly fell through due to complications with Alcon Entertainment, the rights holder for Blade Runner, leading to its cancellation late last year.

In other Blade Runner-related news, Annapurna Interactive announced in the summer of 2023 that they would be developing their first in-house game, Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth, marking the first Blade Runner game in 25 years. However, there have been no updates on this project since its announcement.

Amid these developments, Supermassive Games has been busy with multiple projects, including the upcoming installment in the Dark Pictures series, Directive 8020, and work on Little Nightmares 3. Last year, the studio faced layoffs, affecting around 90 employees according to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, as they entered a "period of consultation."

On a different note, fans of Supermassive's work can look forward to the cinematic adaptation of Until Dawn hitting theaters this weekend. For more on this, you can read our review of David F. Sandberg's take on Until Dawn for the big screen.