[Update]: Some additional information has been added to this article after publish to further clarify that Suda51 and Swery’s upcoming plans are not final.
Yesterday, well-known developers Suda51 (Travis Strikes Again) and Swery (Deadly Premonition) teased the upcoming reveal of a “secret project.” Following a livestream broadcast by IGN Japan earlier today in which the pair brainstormed ideas in front of a live audience, they’ve settled on developing an indie horror game called Hotel Barcelona.
The whole brainstorming session was informal, with the translator on-hand reminding audiences that nothing is yet final.
However, what we do know is that the pair have been discussing a collaboration since 2018 and have been given a green light to produce a game with a budget of $1 million, to be published by Devolver Digital.
There’s no word yet on platforms or a release date for the game, but the two do agree that they’d like to be “light and easy to play,” possibly suited for a mobile and/or Stadia release.
Some of the other ideas discussed include making it not a pure horror game but more similar to a suspenseful thriller akin to a David Lynch movie. It was also mooted that they might make the protagonist evil by nature and force players to do things they don’t want to.
As for the title, while it’s called Hotel Barcelona it may not actually be set in Spain, despite Suda’s desire to visit the country apparently influencing his name choice.
Devolver Digital, of course, has a penchant for sniffing out exciting indie projects. Not that Suda51 and Swery will hardly have needed to prove their worth, though, given that they’ve both been at the helm of some exceptional games over the years.
Goichi Suda, or Suda51 as he’s better known, recently delivered Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, and before that the inventive hack-and-slash Let it Die. His schedule moving forward sounds as though it’s likely to be pretty busy, given that we already know he’s working on No More Heroes III and Fire Pro Wrestling World.
Hidetaka Suehiro also know as Swery, won’t be twiddling his thumbs either. He’s currently working on The Good Life and a sequel to Deadly Premonitions in addition to this latest project.
You can check out the stream below, which is still going at the time of writing. You can rewind to catch the announcement.
An event to take place next week will apparently reveal more information about the game, but it’ll take the same informal brainstorming session concept as today. Suda51 will create a logo, we’re told, while Swery will conceptualize aspects of its design.
