How Fear the Spotlight became Blumhouse's first video game

Blumhouse didn't want to release a game in 2024. The studio, one of the leading names in horror films, announced in February 2023 that it would be launching a video game publishing company and executives were looking for projects from independent teams with budgets under $10 million. Blumhouse Games' goal has been to support a few great horror titles every year, with a tentative plan to begin releasing them in 2025.

But then, in September 2023, the Blumhouse people stumbled upon it by accident Fear the spotlight. It was an atmospheric, voxelized horror game about two friends sneaking around their haunted high school and communicating with the ghosts of students who died in a fire in the '90s. Creepy shenanigans and mysterious puzzles ensued, all presented in a third-person perspective and with a dark PS One aesthetic. Fear the spotlight was a PC game by Crista Castro and Bryan Singh of Cozy Game Pals, a married couple with impressive professional credentials: Castro was an art director at Nickelodeon and artistic director at Animaniacs reboot, and Singh was a programmer who worked on The Last of Us and Uncharted series Trip. They quit their corporate jobs during the pandemic and founded Cozy Game Pals Fear the spotlight was their first big project together.

Fear the spotlight didn't have a particularly successful debut, but a few weeks after it hit Steam, Blumhouse Games president Zach Wood and creative director Louise Blain happened to spot it on Twitter. Castro told Engadget how it went:

“Zach found it and he and Louise Blain sat down and played it together and thought, oh my God, this is exactly the kind of game we want to release, this is really great.” Let's get in touch with them and let's ask if they need help. Is there something here we can work on together?”

“In the meantime, we actually needed help,” Singh added with a laugh. “We had published it, but we had no idea how to let people know about it. The people who found it said very positive things, and we thought, 'Okay, that's great, but what do we do now?' We know how to make things, but other than that we don't know anything about marketing.”

Blumhouse signed Cozy Game Pals and asked how they could help improve Fear the spotlight. At first, Castro and Singh suggested porting it to consoles and adding additional languages, basic things to make the existing game accessible to more players.

“They loved the idea, but then offered more time,” Singh said. “They asked: What would you do if you had an extra year to work on this?”

The opportunity to expand Fear the spotlight surprised Castro and Singh. It also scared them at first.

“We had never really thought about a significant addition to the game before,” Singh said. “And we also had what we thought was a finished game that we were really proud of. So it was really, really difficult to figure out how to add something to something that we thought was done; We didn't want to ruin it. Part of it is our taste and our work, but part of it also feels like black magic. If we wrestle with it, will it come out in a way that we’re proud of?”

Castro and Singh took advantage of the opportunity. On October 26, 2023, about a month later Fear the spotlightWhen Steam debuted, they removed it from Steam with the promise of adding new gameplay, console versions, and localization features. They didn't mention Blumhouse at the time. Behind the scenes, Blumhouse Games gave Cozy Game Pals a year to create the final version of Fear the spotlightwithout creative restrictions.

The revised version of Fear the spotlight released on October 22, 2024 on Steam, PS4, PS5, Switch and Xbox Series X/S, developed by Cozy Game Pals and published by Blumhouse Games. It is the first game to join Blumhouse's publishing roster, which includes future titles from EYES OUT, Half Mermaid, Perfect Garbage, Playmestudio and Vermila Studios.

Cozy Game Pals has made good use of the year of additional development time. Instead of messing with the black magic of the original, Castro and Singh added an entirely new segment by doubling the game's running time and expanding on their original ideas in clever, particularly horrific ways. Fear the spotlightis, by the way, an excellent horror experience. It features low-poly environments, low-resolution textures and grainy CRT effects, but its animations are fluid and the camera uses easy-to-use third-person controls that nail the nostalgia without sacrificing modern conveniences . The story centers on two teenage friends, Vivian and Amy, and takes them on individual but connected journeys through twisted, ghost-infested versions of reality. Their dialogue and personalities seem authentic and their emotions are incredibly relatable, whether in the face of unspeakable horrors or simply in conversation with a crush. There are also some good jump scares.

The first half of Fear the spotlight is full of exciting puzzles, creepy phantoms and exciting hide-and-seek mechanics. The second half, made after Blumhouse's intervention, adds layers of emotional depth and introduces a truly formidable enemy. Vivian is the playable protagonist in the original version and Amy's story is the focus of the expanded content.

“In the first Vivian story, we actually figured out how to make this game,” Castro said. “But by the time we made Amy's we had already learned so many lessons. I feel like the monster is better, the puzzles are better, and the storytelling is more streamlined. The second half rounds it all out really well.”

Castro not only handled the art but was also the main author Fear the spotlightwhile Singh took care of the programming. Castro was the die-hard horror fan in the relationship – he was a Resident Evil boy, she was a Silent Hill girl (read from the Avril Lavigne theme). Sk8er Boi) – and together they wanted to capture the fun of being afraid in video game form. Fear the spotlight draws from her personal life and her memories of high school, when every emotion felt new, extreme, and sometimes silly. From this lens, Fear the spotlight also deftly deals with serious themes such as loss, death, prejudice and love.

“It's just such a pivotal time in our lives, in most people's lives,” Castro said. “I grew up with these games in the 90s or early 2000s, for example Silent Hill one, two and three. So when I think back to high school and how I felt, when I was writing the story it was just like, I can only write from my own personal experience. Having a crush and feeling awkward and how special it is when you actually have a bond with someone.”

Singh continued the thread, saying, “I think personal life – we bond through a lot of our shared experiences, which also come through in the game.” Families are complicated family structures. Having a father who is not present in your life or the loss of a very close family member – it just changes you and affects you. They’re just taken out of our lives.”

Castro and Singh lovingly described Blumhouse Games as a ragtag team of horror fans, with fewer than ten people supporting a handful of projects at a time and doing so while trying to prove themselves in a new market. In addition to handling trailers and presses Fear the spotlightWhen re-releasing the game, the Blumhouse team helped Cozy Game Pals find a contractor for a logo and key art, a porting company to help release the game on consoles, and a localization team. Most importantly, Castro and Singh said the people at Blumhouse Games really seem to enjoy the projects they've signed.

“They were just the ideal partner and incredibly supportive,” Castro said. “They really let us decide everything for our game, the game is completely in line with our vision. We showed them prototypes and level designs and of course they had feedback and thoughts, but yeah-“

“They know our game really well,” Singh said. “They are real fans of the original release. They know our game very well and can talk to us about our ideas from a very informed perspective.”

Castro concluded: “You come from a support perspective. How can we help you create? your Vision that You Make sure you are happy. It was great.”

Fear the spotlight is available now on Steam, PS4, PS5, Switch and Xbox Series X/S for $20.