Little Nightmares Creators Explain Why They Left The Franchise For REANIMAL

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Over the last ten years, the Little Nightmares series has stood out as a truly original horror franchise. It’s become a standard for the genre, influencing many other games with its distinctive 2.5D style and unsettlingly charming visuals.

Many players, myself included, were surprised to learn that Tarsier Studios, the creators of the Little Nightmares series, would no longer be working on it. Supermassive Games will now be responsible for developing Little Nightmares 3.

Instead, the team decided to create a brand new game. While it still shares similarities with Little Nightmares – featuring small characters in a lonely, unsettling world – it’s a completely fresh project for them.

Despite the excitement around their new game, REANIMAL, which received a lot of positive feedback at the 2025 Steam Next Fest, many fans were still curious about why the developers stopped working on their previous, highly successful project. Now, the team has explained the reason.

Escaping An Identity Crisis And Going For A Darker Tone

I was reading a GamesRadar interview with Andreas Johnsson, one of the founders of Tarsier Studios, and it was really interesting! He talked about how the studio was feeling before they moved on from the Little Nightmares games. Apparently, over the past twenty years, they started to really question what kind of studio they were and if they wanted to be known only for that one series. It sounds like they were having a bit of an identity crisis, trying to figure out what they stood for beyond Little Nightmares.

Johnsson, now a producer for REANIMAL, remembers a conversation from years ago about shifting their focus. They used to be known for one particular game, but they wondered if they could build a reputation where people eagerly anticipated the next game from Tarsier Studios, rather than just the next installment in any popular franchise. “What if people longed for our next game instead of just another big title?” he recalls the team asking.

Johnsson believes REANIMAL is bringing them closer to their vision. While he doesn’t claim they’ve fully achieved it, he feels they’re making significant progress. The development team has also decided to prioritize quality over quantity, focusing on creating smaller, more refined games in the future.

After finishing their work on Little Nightmares and leaving Bandai Namco, the team decided to shift their creative direction. They aimed to develop a more mature and unsettling experience, demonstrating how much the studio had grown over the past ten years.

According to Johnsson, a game studio needs to consistently develop its capabilities to create its next project. Radically changing direction – like suddenly switching to a racing game – is possible, but very difficult. He emphasized the importance of evolving and improving, as stagnation leads to decline. This realization led the team to pursue a more mature and intense experience than they had previously attempted.

By parting ways with Little Nightmares and Bandai Namco, the team sought a change in tone

Johnsson shared that the game’s cooperative mode was inspired by how players naturally collaborated while playing the single-player game Little Nightmares. Interestingly, the development team also drew inspiration from the atmosphere and teamwork seen in the Alien movies.

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Johnsson explains how a movie experience, like seeing ‘Alien’ at a young age, can be very different depending on whether you watch it alone or with others. He notes that watching something scary with someone else can actually make it easier to handle, allowing you to share a nervous laugh and cope with the horror together.

I’m really looking forward to REANIMAL! It feels like a significant new project for the studio, especially following the success of Little Nightmares 1 and 2.

I’m so excited! REANIMAL, this co-op horror game I’ve been following, is finally coming out on February 13, 2026! And it’s coming to pretty much everything – PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and even the new Nintendo Switch 2. I can’t wait to play with friends!

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2026-01-17 00:41