Frictional Games, the studio behind the Penumbra series and Amnesia: The Dark Descent, have been teasing a new title for the past few months. Starting with the opening of the “Next Frictional Game” website in early January, and since then a series of ARG videos led fans down a rabbit hole of spooky videos and cryptic messages. Today, we finally have (sort of) a first look at the still-unnamed game. The teaser, titled New Game Teaser: I am Tasi is only 27 seconds long and mostly blank screen. We do get one clear glimpse of a tree in a sandstorm, with what appears to be some sort of gateway or portal opening wide in the distance. Check it out:
Frictional’s games thrive on mystery and confusion, and boy howdy are they digging their heels in with this one. That “Next Frictional Game” website? I noticed that, when it went online, it showed a fertilized ovum. Today, it shows an early in-development fetus — about two months along, which lines up with the website’s age as well. Looking at it that way, it’s very possible this new game could release in September (9 months from the website going live), which also falls in line with Frictional’s previous two games (Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Soma) also releasing in September. For now, odds are good they’ll keep up the ARG element to generate hype and curiosity around the new title, rather than launching into an announcement right away. E3 is also only a few months away, although they might not want the game to get lost amongst next-gen hype — unless it’s a next-gen title, of course. We can only wait and see.