Bloober Team Aims to Keep Physical Games Alive 'As Long As Possible'

Bloober Team, the studio behind the Silent Hill 2 remake, is committed to releasing physical versions of its games for as long as it can. CEO Piotr Babieno shared the company's fondness for physical media and collectibles in an interview with GamesRadar. He noted that as technology advances, the gaming landscape and player preferences have shifted, and that "we have reached a moment where you can't really do much more" in terms of visual and auditory fidelity. "Like, OK, the game can have a slightly higher resolution and maybe better lighting and whatever, but will it make it a more engaging game? I don't think so," Babieno said.

The CEO, whose studio is also working on an original Silent Hill remake, pointed out that statistics show "the majority of players are playing on hardware which is five, seven years old, if not older." He added, "But are they less interested in games because of that? I don't think so."

As AI continues to shape the industry's controversial future, Babieno is more focused on "thinking about other senses." This philosophy carries over to Bloober's new Nintendo Switch 2-exclusive 2.5D horror game, Onyx: The Dark Group, developed by subsidiary Broken Mirror Games. The goal, he says, is "putting horror back in your hands." "As humans, we have four other senses, and AI can deliver something for what you see, for what you hear, but why not touch?" Babieno explained. "I think the physical element of gaming will always, always be there."

When the topic turned to physical games—a hot-button issue following Sony's decision to end disc releases for PlayStation games and Rockstar's disc-less approach to Grand Theft Auto 6—Babieno acknowledged why some are favoring digital. "Digital distribution is much easier, much cheaper, and will be more profitable for everyone," he said. However, Babieno can't help but reflect on how game collecting has personally affected him. "Collecting games also [made] an emotional connection between the game and me, between the studio which produced the game and me," he said. "This little emotional touch is so important that, I think in some way, we would lose the opportunity of being closer with our fans [without it]. So, if we are able to produce a [physical] retail version of our games, we would like to make them for as long as possible."

Also in the interview, Broken Mirror's executive director Tymon Smektala, who left Dying Light developer Techland to join Bloober earlier this year, expressed that he and Babieno share a passion for collecting games. "Like, if I could unblur my screen, you would see lots of stuff behind me and I have lots of stuff that's not even in the camera, so this is what gaming is to us," he said. "This is the gaming I know, and this is the gaming I expect. And as long as it will be possible, and as long as the big decision makers will allow us to have that, then of course I'll be into that."

Bloober's Silent Hill 2 remake launched for PC and PlayStation 5 in 2024 and included a physical disc. Supporting physical media for future games will become more complicated when Sony ends PlayStation disc support in 2028. The Silent Hill 1 remake was announced last June and still lacks a release date, leaving it uncertain whether it will arrive before Sony's cutoff.