Back in 2010 a little known studio by the name of Frictional Games released a game that would forever change the “survival horror” genre, Amnesia: The Dark Decent. The PC game (also later available on Mac OS X and Linux via Steam) was released as an independent download and recieved critical aclaim, eventually receiving the title “scariest game ever made” by fans. Late that year, the DLC pack, Amnesia: Justine, was released. At the 2011 Independent Games Festival, Amnesia won awards for “Excellence in Audio” and “Technical Excellence” as well as the “Direct2Drive Vision Award,” which came with a $10,000 cash price.
In early 2012, the studio released one of the most creative bits of viral marketing to date. They updated thier website, simply called “Next Frictional Game,” to feature a heavily distorted and blurred image above the “Amnesia” logo. Across the bottom were simply the words, “Something is emerging….” Clicking the blurred images would take the user to a Google map simply labeled “China.” Later the image lead to “Boreray” until finally leading to the specific “502 2nd Avenue Seattle, WA, USA.” This was bit of an easter egg for fans. Even moreso, opening the site’s source code led fans to a computer-like console complete with a count down and runable command lines. Once the countdown expired, the website reads “A Machine For Pigs coming fall two thousand twelve.”
Fast forward to June of 2012 and a mysterious video pops up on the Frictional Games YouTube channel. The “teaser trailer” was for the previously known “gameB” it showed some scenes from the game, ending with the player hiding under the stairs.
In October 2012, on Halloween, a second trailer was posted on the YouTube page. This reveiled the use of a latern as well as the voice of the main character. This trailer ended with the main character cornered in the game’s pig slaughterhouse by an unseen beast.
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is set to release Summer 2013
