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

Supermassive Games, renowned for their gripping horror titles such as Until Dawn, The Quarry, and the Dark Pictures anthology series, has reportedly ceased development on an unannounced game set in the Blade Runner universe. According to a report by Insider Gaming, the project was titled "Blade Runner: Time To Live," a character-driven, cinematic action-adventure game set in the year 2065. The narrative was to revolve around 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 involved stealth, combat, exploration, investigation, and intense character interactions.

Insider Gaming revealed that Blade Runner: Time To Live had a hefty development budget of approximately $45 million, with $9 million specifically allocated for external performance capture and acting talent. The game was designed to offer a 10-12 hour single-player experience, with pre-production kicking off in September 2024 and a projected release date set for September 2027 on PC and both current and next-gen consoles. However, the project reportedly fell through due to complications with Alcon Entertainment, the rights holder of the Blade Runner franchise, leading to its cancellation sometime late last year.

In other Blade Runner-related news, publisher Annapurna Interactive announced in the summer of 2023 their intention to develop their first in-house game titled "Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth," marking the first Blade Runner game in 25 years. Unfortunately, there have been no further updates on this project since its initial announcement.

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

In more exciting news for fans, Supermassive's Until Dawn is hitting the big screen this weekend. You can read our review of David F. Sandberg's adaptation of Until Dawn here.