Frogwares Announce The Sinking City 2 Kickstarter Launch
Independent studio Frogwares, are following up the original Sinking City with an equally Lovecraftian survival horror sequel. The Kickstarter goes live on March 6, 2025. The studio aims to use the funds to develop a more thorough horror game than its previous titles.
The Sinking City 2 also marks a move over to Unreal 5, an industry-standard game engine with a lot of technical features to help make games look as polished as possible. The developers have also noted the slight tweaks to the overall idea, compared to the first game.
“The original Sinking City is still one of our most successful titles, most likely because of stronger horror genre leanings and setting,” said Sergiy Oganesyan, Frogwares’ Head of Publishing, in a press release.
“We created quite a few detective adventures in the past, so now we’re going to mix things up to keep doing what people love about us – meaning story-rich experiences – while still being able to evolve. The industry is changing around us and we want to secure the studio’s future.”
New, Old Horror
Set in Arkham, The Sinking City 2 promises a return to the original’s Lovecraftian atmosphere, but with a stronger focus on combat and exploration. Frogwares is known for its detective games and the company promised this element isn’t being removed from the sequel. Instead, it’ll be optional and reward detectives with extra info as to what’s going on around them.
“We want investigation to be a beneficial part of the game but just for those who want it, offering tangible gameplay bonuses and eureka moments without it being a requirement to progress. By taking time to piece together clues, you’ll arm yourself with more knowledge and awareness of your options vs just coming across them by chance,” said Denys Chebotarov, Executive Producer at Frogwares.
The developer also noted that the game area will change as Arkham floods, bringing with it new puzzles and dangers. Plus, true to the survival horror genre’s roots, resources will be in short supply the whole time.
Kickstarting a New Era
Frogwares made a name for itself with a ton of Sherlock Holmes games, most of which were well-received by critics, but almost went out of business in 2019. Focus Home Interactive, the publisher of Frogwares’ games on multiple platforms at the time, pulled them from sale after refusing to transfer title IDs to Frogwares.
Frogwares managed to resolve the situation and in January 2024 regained sole publishing rights to The Sinking City. However, the loss of earnings during this period impacted how the company had to operate, combined with the ongoing war in the Ukraine (where the studio is predominantly based).
“Our previous game, Sherlock Holmes The Awakened, was fully developed and released during the war. Through Kickstarter and our supporters, we built ourselves a safety net that saved us more than once,” said Wael Amr, Frogwares’ CEO. “So we need to do the same now with The Sinking City 2 as this game is vastly bigger and more complex.”