Interested in knowing what’s next for the gaming industry? Join gaming executives to discuss emerging parts of the industry in October at GamesBeat Summit Next. Register today.
The horror game genre is one of the most saturated markets in gaming right now. Whether it’s a new indie horror or a new Resident Evil, horror game fans usually have plenty of games to play. Now, new development studio Brass Token is trying to break into that market with its inaugural title – an atmospheric horror title called The Chant.
Brass Token describes The Chant as a “third-person horror action-adventure” game. Playing the role of Jess Briar, a traumatized young woman looking for some sort of guidance in her life, who ends up at Prismic Science Spiritual Retreat on a remote island. A ritual goes awry, as they do, and players must survive against an onslaught of “psychedelic” cosmic horrors.
Advertising
Speaking to GamesBeat in an interview, Brass Token CEO Mike Skupa described the basic concept of the game: turned out to be more of a horrible experience than a positive…. We’re a small boutique studio, so it was really important to play to our strengths and do something stylish. Even things like having it on an island retreat where the characters don’t use technology and wear similar clothing. These things play into our strengths and abilities as a team.
The Chant is also Brass Token’s first game, and Skupa added that the game started as a small personal project. “It was our first foray into the independent space, and then we got funding from the Canada Media Fund, which really helped a small team like ours to move forward and attract new talent. As we brought in more and more people, the game changed and grew with the different people who joined. Then we signed up with Prime Matter [the game’s publisher] and that allowed us to develop the game and make it bigger, realize our vision and release it on different platforms. It has been a slow and steady escalation…. What you can do with a small team is amazing compared to what you could do, you know, five years ago.
New Age Horror
GamesBeat also spoke with Siobhan Williams, the actor who plays Jess. According to Williams, Jess struggles with anxiety and suffers from panic attacks. “That’s something we really don’t see in games. Games are getting to a point where the fidelity is the same as a movie, only it’s more immersive for the player. But we haven’t touched on a lot of sensitive topics yet, so I thought that was really interesting. I loved the concept when they were talking about cosmic horror. New Age subjects interest me and the game is very ironic. It doesn’t matter if you like this stuff or not – if you are, you’ll think it’s cool, and if you’re not, you might not care.
Skupa said the small team at Brass Token wanted to take a different approach to horror. “Being a small team and having that freedom, we wanted to tell this original story using an original location and subject…. The art team took symbols like sacred geometry or mandalas and created creatures from those shapes. You can look at these creatures and think they are beautiful in a way. We don’t want the game to be necessarily grainy or disturbing all the time. There’s this kind of otherworldly wonder. One of the reasons I love fiction and horror movies is that sense of mystery and wonder.
The Chant is set to launch later this year on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
The GamesBeat creed when covering the video game industry is “where passion meets business”. What does it mean? We want to tell you how much the news means to you, not only as a decision maker in a game studio, but also as a game fan. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about and engage with the industry. Learn more about membership.