Frictional Games AB is an independent video game company led by Thomas Grip and Jens Nilsson, responsible for developing and publishing the Amnesia series, among other games.
Information[]
Frictional Games is located in Helsingborg, Sweden and specializes in the survival horror genre. They are the creators of the highly successful horror-adventure series Penumbra and the breakout major hit horror-adventure game Amnesia: The Dark Descent, as well as the celebrated sci-fi horror-adventure game SOMA. All of their titles use their in-house game engine "HPL".
History[]
Old logo. (2006-2007)
Their first commercially released video game was the 2007 first-person survival horror game Penumbra: Overture. Penumbra itself was originally a tech demo created in 2006, designed to show off the technology of the HPL engine. Penumbra: Overture was followed by its sequel Penumbra: Black Plague in 2008, and then later in 2008 they released an expansion for Penumbra: Black Plague called Penumbra: Requiem.
The first-person fantasy survival horror game Amnesia: The Dark Descent is Frictional Games' fourth game. It was released in 2010 and introduces the second version of their HPL engine. It received highly positive reviews, and John Walker of Rock, Paper, Shotgun has said that he finds Amnesia to be "[...]the most successfully frightening game to have been made.".[2]
On April 12, 2011, Frictional Games released a free DLC for Amnesia: The Dark Descent for owners of the Steam version of the game. Amnesia: Justine was released to promote the upcoming release of VALVe's game, Portal 2. On April 18, they joined Valve to celebrate the release of their first game.[Elaborate what this refers to. What does it mean?]
Old logo. (2007-2013)
On September 10, 2013, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs was released. A sequel to 2010's The Dark Descent, it was developed by The Chinese Room and released by Frictional Games. After A Machine for Pigs, they worked on developing HPL 3, the third version of their in-house engine, as well as sci-fi horror game SOMA. SOMA was released on September 22, 2015, to critical acclaim.
In a blog post written by Thomas Grip, and published on Frictional Games' Blogspot on the 24th of March 2016, Grip revealed that the studio was (then) currently, and for the first time, working on two new titles at the same time.[3]Grip, Thomas. Thomas Grip: Co-founder, creative director. Accessed 6 October 2024. Published 24 March 2016. People of Frictional blog, blogspot. https://frictionalgames.com/2013-11-thomas-grip-co-founder-creative-director/.hursday 24 March 2016
On November 22, 2016, the studio released the Amnesia: Collection for the PS4, a remastered version of the Amnesia series.
The company teased their next game on March 2, 2020, with a short teaser uploaded to their YouTube channel, titled I am Tasi.[4] Four days later, the game was revealed to be a third entry to the Amnesia series, titled Amnesia: Rebirth, with another trailer.[5] The game was released in Autumn 2020.
Frictional Games began teasing Amnesia: The Bunker in 2022, and it was originally set to be released in late 2022. However, due to some unexpected issues, its release was delayed, and it ended up being released on June 6th, 2023. Prior to the eventual release of The Bunker, Fredrik Olsson had confirmed that the studio was already, concurrently working on a "SOMA-style" game, with no specific release date mentioned.[6]
Games[]
| Year | Title | Developer | Publisher | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Penumbra (Tech Demo) | Yes | Yes | Windows |
| 2007 | Penumbra: Overture | Yes | No | Linux, macOS, Windows |
| 2008 | Penumbra: Black Plague | Yes | No | Linux, macOS, Windows |
| 2008 | Penumbra: Requiem | Yes | No | Linux, macOS, Windows |
| 2010 | Amnesia: The Dark Descent | Yes | Yes | Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One |
| 2011 | Amnesia: Justine | Yes | Yes | Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One |
| 2013 | Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs | No | Yes | Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One |
| 2015 | SOMA | Yes | Yes | Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One |
| 2020 | Amnesia: Rebirth | Yes | Yes | Linux, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |
| 2023 | Amnesia: The Bunker | Yes | Yes | PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |
References[]
- ↑ Frictional Games' Linkedin page
- ↑ Walker, J. "Wot I Think: Amnesia – The Dark Descent". Accessed 6 October 2024. Published 7 September 2010. Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Gamer Network Ltd. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/09/07/wot-i-think-amnesia-the-dark-descent/.
- ↑ Grip, Thomas. "SOMA - 6 Months Later". Accessed 16 January 2024. Published 24 March 2016. In the Games of Madness – Official Blog of Frictional Games, Blogspot. https://frictionalgames.blogspot.se/2016/03/soma-6-months-later.html.
- ↑ "Amnesia: Rebirth teaser: 'I am Tasi'" [Video]. Accessed 6 October 2024. Published 2 March 2020. frictionalgames, Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AKyIjYlcFo.
- ↑ "Amnesia: Rebirth - Announcement trailer" [Video]. Accessed 6 October 2024. Published 6 March 2020. frictionalgames, Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NiQAlGUw_o.
- ↑ Zak, R. "A 'SOMA-style' Game Is In The Works At Frictional Games". Accessed 7 October 2024. Published 7 February 2023. DualShockers, Valnet Publishing Group. https://www.dualshockers.com/soma-game-sequel-frictional-games/.
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