Bokeh Game Studio, established by Keiichiro Toyama, creator of Silent Hill, the Siren and Gravity Rush series, has posted Focus, a video that introduces Toyama, who founded the studio with Kazunobu Sato and Junya Okura on August 13.
In the video, Toyama discusses the studio’s first game, which he describes as “quite dark, far from my more recent titles.” For the creator, it’s a return to his horror roots with an emphasis on entertainment.
“I want the player to feel exhilarated when playing the game. The view I have of horror is the everyday life being shaken. Rather than showing scary things, it should question our position, make us challenge the fact that we’re living peacefully. I like bringing this type of thoughts in my concepts. I would like that to be the theme of my next game,” Toyama says.
The 51-year-old game designer has seen a trend in “death game” content in which normal people encounter abnormal circumstances. “They’re on the edge emotionally, while dealing with action or drama. This influenced me and I think it will show in my next game,” he says.
The creator, who left Sony Interactive Entertainment after more than 20 years in 2020, says he founded Bokeh to continue making games that reflect his style. “Rather than reaching to the widest audience possible, my games choose their audience in a way. They tend to have these odd concepts, in the end I’m confident that they leave a trace,” he adds.
After creating the Silent Hill series, Toyama abandoned the development team in 1999 after the first game was launched. Subsequently, he joined Japan Studio, where he worked on Siren, a survival horror stealth game series. He directed both Siren (2003) and its sequel Forbidden Siren 2 (2006).
In 2008, the creator released Siren: Blood Curse, a reimagining of the original game. He then developed Gravity Rush, an action-adventure game, which was released in 2012. A sequel, Gravity Rush 2, was released in 2017.
Source: Gematsu