Supermassive Games, renowned for their gripping horror titles like Until Dawn, The Quarry, and The Dark Pictures series, has reportedly halted development on an unannounced game set in the Blade Runner universe. According to Insider Gaming, the game, titled Blade Runner: Time To Live, was envisioned as a "character focused, cinematic, action adventure" set in the year 2065. The narrative would have revolved around So-Lange, a vintage Nexus-6 model and the last Blade Runner, tasked with retiring the leader of a secretive replicant network. Betrayed and left for dead, So-Lange's journey was to be punctuated by elements of stealth, combat, exploration, investigation, and intense character interactions.
Insider Gaming detailed that Blade Runner: Time To Live was slated to have a development budget of approximately $45 million, which included $9 million for external performance capture and acting talent. The game was intended to offer a 10-12 hour single-player experience, with pre-production starting in September 2024 and a projected release in September 2027 for PC and both current and next-generation consoles. However, the project reportedly collapsed due to complications with Alcon Entertainment, the rights holder of the Blade Runner franchise, leading to its cancellation late last year.
In a related development, Annapurna Interactive announced in the summer of 2023 that it was working on its inaugural in-house game, Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth, marking the first Blade Runner game in 25 years. Since the announcement, there have been no further updates on this project.
Amidst these challenges, Supermassive Games has been busy with other ventures, including the upcoming installment in the Dark Pictures series, Directive 8020, and the development of Little Nightmares 3. The studio faced significant layoffs last year, with around 90 employees affected according to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, as it navigated a "period of consultation."
On a brighter note, fans of Supermassive's work can look forward to the theatrical release of Until Dawn, adapted into a movie by David F. Sanberg, hitting theaters this weekend. For more on this exciting adaptation, you can read our review here.
