Supermassive Games, renowned for their gripping horror adventures such as Until Dawn, The Quarry, and the Dark Pictures anthology series, 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 2065. The narrative would have followed the last Blade Runner, a vintage Nexus-6 model named So-Lange, tasked with retiring the leader of a clandestine replicant network. After being betrayed and left to die in a harsh environment, the gameplay would have been segmented into stealth, combat, exploration, investigation, and intense character interactions.
Insider Gaming disclosed that Blade Runner: Time To Live had a hefty development budget of approximately $45 million, which included $9 million specifically allocated for external performance capture and acting talent. The game was slated to offer a 10-12 hour single-player experience, with pre-production starting in September 2024 and an anticipated release in September 2027 across PC and both current and next-generation consoles.
The project's demise reportedly stemmed from issues with Alcon Entertainment, the rights holder of the Blade Runner franchise, leading to the cancellation sometime late last year. Meanwhile, in the summer of 2023, Annapurna Interactive announced their venture into developing an in-house Blade Runner game titled "Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth," marking the first Blade Runner game in 25 years, though no further updates have surfaced since.
Amidst these developments, Supermassive Games has been busy with multiple projects, including the upcoming entry in the Dark Pictures series, Directive 8020, and the development of Little Nightmares 3. Last year, the studio faced challenges, announcing layoffs affecting around 90 workers as part of a "period of consultation," according to Bloomberg's Jason Schreier.
On a different note, Supermassive's Until Dawn is set to hit the big screen this weekend. You can read our review of David F. Sanberg's cinematic adaptation of Until Dawn here.
