frictional games new game

Teasers for the SOMA Studio’s Next Project Have Shifted Into ARG Territory

In late December, Frictional Games’ website began hosting an ominous teaser image. It was merely a flashing white dot at the time, nothing too fancy. Weeks later the strange white speck had grown, pulsating faster, fueling all kinds of internet theories. Now the studio behind Amnesia: The Dark Descent and SOMA has allowed the tease to morph into something grander–an alternate reality game (ARG). Thus far, the ARG has spawned links to two YouTube videos.

A visit to the studio’s website shows the white dot seemingly evolving into an embryo. That’s no longer the main attraction, though. Situated in the bottom right corner is a row of social media icons. On that same row sits a new icon, an oddly shaped space ship, eyeball, or hieroglyph… it’s really not easy to discern. The new icon can’t be clicked; however, hovering over it provides a piece of a URL to the following YouTube video:

The video lasts only 10 seconds, offering very little in the way of context. There’s a crackling sound heard throughout, while the camera shakes above a pile of rocks. Adorning the middle rock is a light blue drawing, which appears to take the shape of cilium (hairlike organelles on a cell). Maybe it’s another weird-looking eyeball, though?

According to the video’s YouTube description, the tape is a copy of a video cassette from February 16, 1983. The tape, marked “Shetpe, KSSR,” apparently sits in a private collection. A quick Google search explains that KSSR likely refers to either Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, known today as Kazakhstan, or Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic, which is now Kyrgyzstan.

Hawk-eyed ResetEra user Foxnull uncovered yet another video by searching the website’s CSS. Check it out below:

This video is twice as long as the first, but features no visuals, only sound. It sounds as if wind is blowing in the background, while a creature howls in the distance. Perhaps we have to wait for the next clue to begin understanding the bigger picture Frictional Games is painting.

[Source: Frictional Games via PC Gamer, ResetEra]

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