Today, it was revealed that following its recent release of the impressive Shadow of the Colossus remake for PlayStation 4, Texas based developer Bluepoint Games will continue with its bread and butter with another remake.
The news comes way of Bluepoint’s president and co-owner, Marco Thrush (via Eurogamer), who when asked about whether the expanded art team brought on for Shadow of the Colossus would be used for an original game next, replied, “Well, we could but we’re doing another remake.”
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Thrush continued:
“This project [Shadow of the Colossus] served us as a great point of growing the art team to the point where we can take on a full triple-A game major scope of art content. So now our next step is, let’s improve the art pipeline, let’s improve the engine, let’s improve workflow for artists, let’s grow on the art side some more to handle our next project because it’s a bit bigger. And our next focus is, all right, let’s work on design and add new stuff to get to the next remake, because now that can be our sole focus of making sure that’s where we put the time and everybody else, they’re already at a level where we can perform.”
Also whilst speaking to Eurogamer, Peter Dalton, Bluepoint’s technical director, noted that not only did the studio grow in headcount, it grew in skill, something that will be important as it looks towards original development and positioning itself so that whoever comes knocking with a project, the studio will be able to handle it.
When pressed about what they might be working on, Thrush obviously remained coy, but he did say that the team is “really excited,” and that he thinks gamers will be too when they find out what it is.
That all said, the question becomes: what remake is Bluepoint Games working on? Well given it’s last three remakes/remasters have all been Sony properties – Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Gravity Rush Remastered, and Shadow of the Colossus – there’s a better than not chance that Bluepoint is once again working on something from PlayStation’s past. One of most commonly thrown around games on the Internet since the above news broke has been the cult-classic, Demon’s Souls.
Interestingly, Bluepoint revealing that it is working on another remake comes off the back of Sony just recently shutting down the servers of Demon’s Souls, not long after its nine year anniversary. At the time, no definitive reason was provided, though it being more than nine years old isn’t a bad one. However, in the absence of a reason, many fans began to speculate and whisper words of a PlayStaton 4 remake, especially in light of the recent Dark Souls remaster announcement.
Then earlier this week, Atlus USA (the publisher of the game in North America), filed a trademark with the ESRB for Demon’s Souls on the PlayStation 3. Now, this could have something to do with the fact that after the game’s servers were shut down, multiple gamers took it upon themselves to create private servers for the game, something Sony and co. wouldn’t be very fond of. Or, it’s possible the trademark has something to do with a (said while whispering) PlayStation 4 remake.
In the past, Demon’s Soul’s creator Hidetaka Miyazaki has noted that a remaster/remake could happen, however, it wouldn’t be from the game’s original developer FromSoftware. Miyazaki, often pestered with questions of a Demon’s Souls remake, also has pointed out that such a decision can only come from Sony, who own the rights to the IP.
Lastly, as you can see from Thrush’s quote above, whatever Bluepoint is working on, it’s bigger than Shadow of the Colossus, a bill that Demon’s Souls fits.
All of this should be 100 percent digested as a rumor, however, with the original game’s server’s recently shutting down, the trademark filing, and Bluepoint revealing its next game is another remake (and a bigger one at that), it feels like a perfect storm all pointing to a Demon Souls remake for the PS4. Further, when you factor in the game’s cult-like audience who would be chomping at the bit for a remake, the success Sony found with Bloodborne, the recent Dark Souls remaster announcement, Bluepoints history with Sony, and the increasing market demand for these type of games, it seems obvious that Bluepoint is working on Demon’s Souls. But again, take all of this with a grain of salt.
If Bluepoint is indeed working on a Demon’s Soul’s Remake, then perhaps expect an announcement at E3 later this year, given that’s where the Shadow of the Colossus Remake was first unveiled.
