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

Supermassive Games, renowned for their gripping horror adventures 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-focused, cinematic, action-adventure" set in the year 2065. The game would have followed the story of So-Lange, a vintage Nexus-6 model and the last Blade Runner, tasked with retiring the leader of an underground replicant network. Betrayed and left for dead, So-Lange's journey would have included elements of stealth, combat, exploration, investigation, and intense character interactions.

Insider Gaming reported that Blade Runner: Time To Live had a substantial development budget of approximately $45 million, with $9 million allocated specifically for external performance capture and acting talent. The game was planned to offer a 10-12 hour single-player experience, with pre-production starting in September 2024 and a targeted release in September 2027 for PC and both current and next-generation consoles.

The project's cancellation reportedly stemmed from issues with Alcon Entertainment, the rights holder for Blade Runner, leading to the game's demise late last year.

In a separate development, publisher Annapurna Interactive announced in the summer of 2023 their intention to develop their first in-house game within the Blade Runner universe, titled Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth. Billed as the first Blade Runner game in 25 years, updates on this project have been scarce since its announcement.

Amidst these developments, Supermassive Games has been busy with multiple projects, including the upcoming entry in the Dark Pictures series, Directive 8020, and Little Nightmares 3. Last year, the studio faced challenges, announcing layoffs affecting around 90 workers, as reported by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, during a "period of consultation."

On a brighter note, Supermassive's Until Dawn is making its way to the big screen, with a movie adaptation set to hit theaters this weekend. For those interested, our review of David F. Sandberg's take on Until Dawn for the cinema is available here.