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If you’re a horror game fan, then you most likely have heard of Supermassive Games and the horror titleUntil Dawn. What you may not have known about this incredibly popular title from 2015 is the fact that it was originally developed by a completely different studio, was set to release on the PlayStation 3, and the move controller was to be the primary controller.
The original version ofUntil Dawnwas being developed by Sony’s London Studio and began its development back in 2008. This project started as a way to combat the Nintendo Wii and was aimed at using the PlayStation Move, forming a future for the peripheral for years to come; sadly, this didn’t come to pass.
What Was the Original Plan For Until Dawn?
For those who have playedUntil Dawn, you will know of the horror story and gameplay that has helped Supermassive Games create numerous different games that have scared the pants off its gamers for the past 8 years.
However,Until Dawnwas slightly different from how it was released, as originally the game still had the same horror tones and setting, but there were some minor changes that arguably made the game better.
For example, in the current version ofUntil Dawn, the main horrors are more supernatural than they were in the original plan. This is because in the released version, players are constantly stalked by a Wendigo as they hunt down the numerous characters that are involved in the story.
In the original version, this was slightly different, as the hidden enemy that would pick off each of the survivors was no longer a beast, but instead was just a human. Since the final moments of the original project weren’t finished, we do not know who the actual villain would have been, but we do know why the stories started in the first place.
Just like the released version ofUntil Dawn, players would be shown an epilogue at the beginning of the game, which would introduce them to some of the characters involved. It would lead to one of the main characters going missing, which would have hinted that they were taken by the hunter.
This is quite similar to the released version, but there are some slight differences. Instead of the characters being taken by the horrors of the forest, they were instead killed by falling down a mountain and dying from the fall.
Why Was the Original Until Dawn Cancelled and Moved to Supermassive Games?
Even thoughUntil Dawnwas in development within Sony’s London Studio for a few years and was very far along, it was sadly cancelled and eventually moved to Supermassive Games for a complete overhaul.
There were a few reasons for this, but one of the main ones was due to the development of the original game and the future of the PlayStation Move. The PlayStation Move was Sony’s answer to the Nintendo Wii, allowing PlayStation players to control their games with a remote that acted like a wand of sorts.Unfortunately, this idea didn’t sell very well and only lasted within the PlayStation 3 console.
Since the originalUntil Dawnwas heavily based on the PlayStation Move, it was very difficult to develop, but many of the mechanics that did survive the official release ofUntil Dawnwere originally planned for the first iteration of the game.
One of these game mechanics was quick-time events, which are when the game shows you a prompt and expects the player to react in a very fast time frame to act upon that action. In the first version ofUntil Dawn, this mechanic was still planned, and was going to use the PlayStation move causing players to following lines and arrows in order to react in certain situations.
For many, reacting to a quick-time event and just pressing one button is already difficult enough, let alone reacting to numerous line-based prompts in a short amount of time. There would also be puzzles within the game, which would expect players to interact with the game environment similar to how a gamer would play a VR title by turning their hands when they open a door or picking up an object and rotating it to get a different view.
Sadly, as production continued, the team had to make some changes as a new development leader was brought into the project. The new leader determined that some of these mechanics would be too involved and planned to have them removed.
This led to the project’s downfall, as the team was eventually disbanded even though a large majority of the game had been finished. But the good news is that Sony then moved the project over to Supermassive Games, which have massively improved on the project and created a fantastic franchise from it.
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Liam Magee
Gaming Writer/Editor
Articles Published :534
Liam is a writer who loves to spend his time gaming, streaming, playing board games, and just talking about games in general. He will play pretty much any game you put in front of him, but he absolutely loves soul-like games the most, or anything story-driven.
