Silent Hill developer Bloober Team wants to make physical versions of its games "for as long as possible."
Studio CEO Piotr Babieno opened up about the company's appreciation for physical media and collectibles during an interview with GamesRadar. He started his thoughts by touching on how the gaming landscape and player desires have changed as technology has advanced over the years, explaining 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 for the studio behind the Silent Hill 2 remake and its in-development original Silent Hill remake also talked about how stats show "the majority of players are playing on hardware which is five, seven years old, if not older." He continued, saying, "But are they less interested in games because of that? I don't think so."
As AI shapes a new, controversial future in the gaming industry, the Bloober executive seems to be more interested in "thinking about other senses." It's this mindset that the team has carried into its new Nintendo Switch 2-exclusive 2.5D horror game, Onyx: The Dark Group. For this experience, which comes from Bloober subsidiary Broken Mirror Games, it's become about "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 said. "I think the physical element of gaming will always, always be there."
When the conversation turned to the topic of physical games – which has become a hot-button issue in the wake of Sony's decision to kill disc releases for PlayStation games, as well as Rockstar's disc-less approach to Grand Theft Auto 6 – Babieno admitted he does see why some are beginning to favor digital releases. After all, as he said, "digital distribution is much easier, much cheaper, and will be more profitable for everyone."
For Babieno, it's hard not to think about how game collecting has affected him, personally, when looking to the future.
"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 during the interview, Broken Mirror's executive director, Tymon Smektala, who left Dying Light developer Techland to join the Bloober company earlier this year, said that he and Babieno both share a love for game collecting.
"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 during the video interview. "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 was initially released for PC and PlayStation 5 in 2024 and received physical disc support at the time. Supporting that angle for future games will officially become more complicated when Sony ends support for PlayStation discs in 2028. The Silent Hill 1 remake was announced in June of last year and currently remains without a release date. It's unclear if it will be out before Sony ends support on its end.