Blumhouse Productions, the film and TV company primarily known for producing horror films, is getting in the video game business. The multimedia giant announced a new subsidiary to develop and publish games.
Dubbed Blumhouse Games, it will primarily partner with indie designers to create horror-themed projects. A press release states that the company will target titles with budgets under $10 million to “enable innovation and pushing creative boundaries.” The games will target console, PC, and mobile platforms.
Thirty-year industry veteran Zach Wood has been named president of Blumhouse Games. Wood most recently worked at Iron Galaxy but has previously worked at studios such as Arkane and Santa Monica Studio. Wood will be joined by CFO Don Sechler, former head of finance, operations, and strategy at PlayStation.
“Through my time in the industry, I’ve had the good fortune of working closely with developers to bring their ideas to life. There’s a unique opportunity for horror and genre in the indie game space, and I’m thrilled about teaming up with Blumhouse to meaningfully leverage the company’s brand, reputation, and creative talent,” said Zach Wood.
In his own statement, Blumhouse Productions president Abhijay Prakash says, “For some time we have been looking to build out a team to start accessing the growth opportunity in interactive media. When we sat with Zach and Don they articulated an approach that resonated with Blumhouse’s model and we knew it was a perfect place for us to start our push into the interactive space. With their experience, sensibility, and knowledge of the gaming marketplace, Zach and Don are the ideal leaders to leverage Blumhouse’s unique genre strengths into gaming.”
Blumhouse Productions was founded in 2000 and has since produced dozens of horror/thriller films and TV shows, including franchises such as Paranormal Activity, Insidious, The Purge, and the recent Halloween films. The company most recently produced this year’s sci-fi creepy doll horror film, M3GAN, and is on-board for its upcoming sequel, M3GAN 2.0.
What do you think of Blumhouse entering the game industry? What sort of experiences would you like to see form the studio? Let us know in the comments.