ILL Is Already Planned as a Connected Universe, Not a One‑Off Horror Game

ILL is shaping up to be one of the biggest original horror games to come to consoles in some time, with a brutal edge and monstrous creature design helping it stand out among its strong peers. ILL takes place in a mysterious factory setting, with the player confronted by horrifying mutations and monsters that have some grim fates awaiting the player character if he gets caught.

The action survival-horror game looks terrifying, with horror fans eagerly awaiting the game’s release sometime next year. If the game turns out to be a success, then fans might even get more time in that world. In fact, the team behind the game already has some thoughts on how to turn the one-off game into a full-blown series in the future — which does explain some key elements of the game’s intent.

ILL’s Creators Already Have Plans For Sequels

There isn’t much we currently know about ILL, but the team behind the game already has plans on how to bring players back to that world following the game. During an interview with CB, Team Clout co-founder Maxim Verehin revealed that the team has had to cut some ideas from the game for the sake of realistic expectations, leaving them with plenty of potential directions to take a sequel if the game is a success.

“Everything is going to be interconnected, and you’re going to feel that in the story. There are going to be some characters that are playing a role, providing guidance. Some of them don’t tell you much about what they know, and they don’t necessarily know everything in the world… Some of the stories end within the first game. Some of them are spreading around towards the future iterations, and we already have a lot of ideas. Hopefully, everything goes well with the first game.“

This could take all sorts of forms, whether that be an overarching narrative or a one-off collection of horror stories set in the same world. Verehin hinted that a possible sequel would be far more in line with the latter, noting that while he had to remain vague about any future plans, “I would like it to be connected to the first game. We need to see how the players like it, though. Then we can see where we can take it. It’s been really fun. I’m super excited to see how the world of ILL could be expanded in the future. There are just so many cool things about it.” This suggests that the world of ILL won’t be closed off with a tidy bow at the end of the game, which is consistent with the typical trappings of the modern genre.

ILL Highlights How Horror Works In Modern Gaming

In the modern media landscape, it’s rare to see releases that are intended to just be singular stories or experiences. Even long-running franchises like Silent Hill, which historically played with self-contained narratives, ended up having an underlying continuity and connective threads between games. With that in mind, it makes sense that the team on ILL has ideas for where they would take the game in future entries. It’s consistent with the standard approach to new IP development and could allow a successful game to transform into something bigger.

It also serves as one of the clearest teases of the tone of ILL we’ve gotten yet. The game has largely remained mysterious, with a gameplay trailer offering clues about the tone but little concrete explanation for the full game. It suggests that at least some characters in the game will survive their encounters without whatever monstrous creatures are roaming the halls, likely including the player character. It also hints that there might be a greater influx of mutations than just in a remote isolated location, teasing that other adventures in this setting could take place in different parts of the world. Fans will get a better idea about the true scope of ILL when it comes out in 2027 — but these teases for a possible sequel do shed light on some key aspects of the game.

ILL is currently scheduled to be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC in 2027.