Mark Burg and Oren Koules, the founders of Twisted Pictures, recently let slip that at least one new Saw video game was in the works.
File this under: Definitely not a rumor.
If anyone would know what’s happening in the Saw world it’s the two folks who founded the company that’s produced all nine current and at least one upcoming film in the franchise.
The news comes from a Reddit AMA held about a week and a half ago (hat tip to Andrew Kiya at PSLS for catching it).
In response to a fan’s question over whether we’d see any new Saw games on next-gen consoles, the duo responded with:
100%. Lionsgate has brought us some amazing projects we are exploring now. But it will 100% happen.
That’s good enough for us, but there’s definitely some room for analysis there.
First, let’s clear the air. The first two Saw games were critically-panned, but that was going to happen whether they were great or terrible.
Mainstream critics tended to refer to both titles as being, essentially, “torture porn.” It’s apparent those people aren’t fans of the franchise (and that they have no clue what torture porn is).
The Saw games were both, essentially, puzzle games. If you were a fan of the franchise, they were deeply-atmospheric romps that gave you something to do after finishing the latest film.
They were the perfect games to rent alongside a handful of horror movies.
But Blockbuster’s gone and the gaming industry has changed. There’s plenty of room for a game that’s dripping with gore. I doubt today’s critics would bat an eye at Saw’s bloody visuals after seeing titles such as Dead by Daylight and Resident Evil 7 sell millions of copies.
The real question is: can anyone make a good Saw game in the modern era?
If you’re a fan of the first two games I’ve got bad news for you because Zombie Studios, the company that developed them, is now defunct.
However, Lionsgate is bullish on video games. It published the Five Nights at Freddy’s games and 2019’s Blair Witch Project.
Bloober Team – silly name, decent developers – did a pretty compelling job on Blair Witch Project and Layers of Fear, so it’s possible Lionsgate could go back to the well with them for another horror game.
It’s far too early to speculate, however, so we’ll just keep our fingers crossed that whoever does get the game(s) ditches the plodding puzzle-solver format and makes something a bit meatier.
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