The Sinking City 2 Shows First Gameplay Teaser + Official Kickstarter Campaign Now Live

The Sinking City 2 is a 3rd person survival-horror game set in the infamous Lovecraftian city of Arkham, Massachusetts during the 1920s. A supernatural flood has driven out all but the most deranged residents and brought decay and Eldritch monsters to the streets. The game is a follow-up to 2019’s phenomenal The Sinking City.

The first gameplay teaser, which shows off combat, a dash exploration, and the game’s optional investigation mechanics, has just been released alongside the game’s official Kickstarter campaign.

With War Still Raging, Frogwares Turns to Community via Kickstarter

Ukraine is still in a state of war that impacts the lives of everyone in the country. Frogwares has therefore opted to use Kickstarter once again to create a safety net for the studio, to help secure some additional features for the game, and to get more direct access to its most diehard fans.

Regarding this approach, Wael Amr, CEO, Frogwares said:

After 3 years of this horrid war hanging over our daily lives, we’ve learned to adapt, though it has never been easy. In 2023 when we released Sherlock Holmes The Awakened with the help of Kickstarter and our loving fans, we built ourselves a safety net that saved us more than once. From power outages and the need for team members to relocate on short notice, to having to pause development for days, this safety net was crucial. Given that The Sinking City 2 is a far more complex and demanding game, we’ve decided to take the same route as before.

The Kickstarter campaign has a target of 100,000 EUR / 105,000 USD and offers a selection of rewards to fans, with the focal point being two physical Collector’s Editions that will be made available only to Kickstarter backers. Funding raised during this campaign will go towards realizing and polishing some of the mechanics the devs are experimenting with, including better combat, better investigation, and new Lovecraftian monsters.

Backers will also be able to take part in regular play tests and be able to play the game before everyone else, and give feedback that the developers will use to refine the game.

Alongside the campaign, the team has also released a Development Deep Dive showcasing the current state of development, additional in-game footage and more. You can view it below.

Game Features:

• Fight to Survive: Use an arsenal of 1920s-inspired firearms and melee weapons to fight against Eldritch-inspired admonitions using a combat system that’s been rebuilt from the ground up.

• Explore The Decaying City of Arkham: Explore a world of decaying mansions, flooded markets, and abandoned hospitals, traversing both on foot and by boat, beautifully realized in Unreal Engine 5.

• Find and Use What You Can: Scrounge for limited resources and balance a finite inventory as you decide what to bring and what to leave behind.

• Choose to Investigate Further: Solve optional cases and puzzles that let you investigate your surroundings deeper to uncover secrets, alternate options, and additional lore.

• A Twisted Lovecraftian Tale: Experience a morally grey and captivating story focused on personal loss and woven around the Lovecraftian mythos of cults, rituals, and incomprehensible creatures.
  

Still Pushing The Studio in a New Direction

With The Sinking City 2, Frogwares is going full steam ahead with its original pledge to pivot the studio to a “horror-first” focus with gameplay primarily built around combat, exploration, and its Lovecraftian setting. After two years of development and utilizing a new game engine, the developers have set an ambitious goal that aims to enhance the strengths of the original.

Elaborating on the team’s focus of horror, Sergiy Oganesyan, Publishing Director at Frogwares said:

When we announced The Sinking City 2 back in 2024, we stated this is going to be our chance to shift our studio into creating games that are more “horror first” focused and the results we’re all seeing internally are extremely promising. We’re not ditching our investigation roots entirely but the chance to spread and challenge our norms has really helped the team grow.  We’ve placed combat and exploration first while still keeping an air of investigation that adds depth but is entirely optional.