Frogwares, the studio known for its Sherlock Holmes video game series, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a sequel to Lovecraft’s horror The Sinking City. In less than a day, the developers have raised twice the amount.
Frogwares, the studio known for its Sherlock Holmes video game series, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a sequel to Lovecraft’s horror The Sinking City. In less than a day, the developers have raised twice the amount.
Frogwares, which has its main office in Kyiv and a subsidiary in Ireland, announced The Sinking City 2 last spring. It is a third-person survival horror game set in an alternate Lovecraftian reality of the United States in the 1920s.
According to the developers, The Sinking City 2 aims to be an original, yet true Lovecraftian journey, in which players will encounter not only iconic monsters, but also new, unique creatures that expand the Cthulhu mythos.
Players will piece together numerous additional clues scattered throughout the city of Arkham to uncover new secret paths of advancement and various in-game bonuses. They will also need to upgrade their inventory, craft additional items, and level up perks to «stay in the game as long as possible».
Unlike Oakmont from the first part, Arkham has been abandoned by its inhabitants — only «a few perverted minds» remain. It is a decaying labyrinth of flooded streets, ruined mansions and an eerie silence, say the developers.
«The Sinking City 2 can be explored both on foot and by boat. Compared to TSC1, we have reduced the map size to create enough secrets for you to discover as you comb the terrain and clear the fog of war», — Frogwares explains.
The developers plan to raise $108,035 on Kickstarter. Less than an hour after the campaign launched, they have already raised more than half of the amount — $60,696 (at the time of writing). To mark the launch, Frogwares has released a new gameplay trailer for the project.
«The original The Sinking City is still one of our most successful games, most likely due to its stronger leaning towards the horror genre and setting. We’ve made a lot of detective adventures in the past, so now we’re going to mix it all up to continue doing what people love about us — which is story-rich experiences — while still being able to grow. The industry is changing around us, and we want to secure the future of the studio,» said Sergey Oganesyan, Head of Publishing at Frogwares.
The studio reported that its current staff exceeds 90 people.
«Our latest works include the open-world Lovecraftian horror game The Sinking City (2019) and two Sherlock Holmes games, including our Sherlock Holmes The Awakened (2023), which we fully developed and launched during the Russian invasion of our country», — Frogwares emphasized.
The Sinking City 2 is being created on the Unreal Engine 5 game engine and will boast next-generation graphics, Lumen global illumination, Nanite photorealism, living characters created in Metahuman, and other advanced technologies.
The game is scheduled for release on PC (Steam, EGS, GOG), PS5, and Xbox Series in December 2025.
UPD. Frogwares, in less than a day, raised twice as much money for the development of The Sinking City 2 as planned and revealed additional goals for the Kickstarter campaign.
«The Sinking City 2 was fully funded in less than two hours! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. After this celebratory moment, we are back to work on creating the immersive survival horror game you deserve,» the developers said.
Frogwares noted that if the game raises $300,000, it will feature additional investigations — «new mysteries, rare items, hidden knowledge, and secret locations». In total, the developers have prepared 9 additional features that can be implemented if the project raises more money.
So far, over 2,000 backers have raised $228,623 on Kickstarter. The fundraising will continue for another 29 days.
