Without this failure, there would be no Silent Hill 2 Remake. Untold story of a game that for many never existed

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Bloober Team is currently thriving with successful projects like Silent Hill 2, The Medium, and the Layers of Fear games. However, it’s easy to forget that the studio’s origins lie with another company called Nibris. Nibris was founded with the goal of creating unique and memorable experiences within the survival horror genre.

The project ‘Sadness’ was intended to launch the creators into the industry, and in retrospect, it clearly foreshadowed their future work. It’s interesting to remember what the Polish developers originally envisioned.

Slavic horror

The game *Sadness* aimed to be different from typical horror games by drawing on stories from Slavic mythology. It was set in the Russian Empire just before World War I, and players would have controlled Maria Lengyel, a Polish-Hungarian noblewoman. The story begins when the train Maria and her son, Alexander, are traveling on crashes in modern-day Ukraine, forcing Maria to do whatever it takes to protect him.

Following the accident, Alexander was going to lose his vision, and his behavior would become increasingly strange. The story didn’t avoid difficult subjects either, exploring conditions like narcolepsy, a fear of the dark, and paranoid schizophrenia. The creators also hinted at the inclusion of mythical creatures such as liches and werewolves. Ultimately, the story’s direction and the fate of the characters would depend on the choices we made.

Unique technology

The game *Sadness* also took a unique approach to its technical design. The developers wanted a stark, black-and-white visual style to create a truly chilling Gothic horror atmosphere. To support this, they designed the game’s interface to be minimal and almost invisible, so it wouldn’t distract from the experience.

The developers were really focused on making the controls feel great. Because the game was being built for the Nintendo Wii, they wanted to take full advantage of the Wiimotes and Nunchucks. Basically, we were going to have to *move* to play – swinging the torch to scare away rats and bugs, throwing ropes, interacting with objects, and grabbing items all by physically moving the controllers. It sounded super immersive!

These final items were especially crucial, as we planned to use them as weapons. Specifically, ‘Sadness’ was designed to allow us to attack others using things like broken bottles or the legs of wooden chairs.

Project on paper

The game *Sadness* was first announced in March 2006. Nibris developed it with help from Digital Amigos and Frontline Studios. Originally, it was supposed to come out in late 2007, but the release was pushed back to 2009. This delay was reportedly due to creative disagreements between Nibris and Frontline Studios, ultimately ending their partnership. Despite growing player doubts over the months – some even questioned if the game was legitimate – the studio continued to maintain that *Sadness* was still being made.

Development on the game *Sadness* stopped in February 2010, signaled by the closure of its official website. This was confirmed in April by Arkadiusz Reikowski, the composer who later became a frequent and successful collaborator with Bloober Team. Shortly after, in October 2010, Nibris ceased development and its team joined Bloober Team.

The new-old Sadness

But that wasn’t the end of *Sadness*… not by a long shot! Some indie developers – HullBreach Studios and Cthulhi Games, both based in the US – stepped in. They decided back in 2014 to finish the game themselves and actually get it released, and they chose the Nintendo Wii U as the platform to do it on.

We essentially had to rebuild the game from the beginning, switching from the Gamebryo engine to Unity and changing the visual style from 3D to 2D. Beyond that, the development team aimed to recapture the spirit of the original game by emphasizing logic puzzles and incorporating RPG features.

Despite the changes, the project *Sadness* still hasn’t been completed, and it doesn’t look like it ever will be.

What remains of Sadness?

Very little remains of the game *Sadness*. The most significant piece of content available is actually a live-action trailer. While it might seem a little sad now, it’s worth remembering the creators tried to give a sense of the gameplay without showing the game itself. The game was originally planned for release in June 2009, but it was never officially demonstrated.

Piotr Bielatowicz and Piotr Babieno, now the leaders of Bloober Team, originally created the game *Sadness*. This project was crucial, as it gave the developers their start in the gaming world and provided the experience they needed to create their future successful titles. Without *Sadness*, Bloober Team’s later games might not have been possible.

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2025-10-12 21:03