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Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Hollywood horror specialist has eyes on Dublin as Irish developer Gambrinous readies new game based in infamous Hellfire Club
It's no use just having a smart design, you'd better also spin a compelling story around it or cook up an association with a celebrity – failing that, how about a deal with a major Hollywood production company? Dublin-based indie studio Gambrinous has by accident or design come up with a combination of all the above for its upcoming release, Eyes of Hellfire, out later this month on PC in Early Access. Despite two successful titles under its belt since Colm Larkin and his pal Fred Mangan set up Gambrinous in 2014, the studio struggled to get its next game off the ground. A couple of years working on one project came to naught before they hit on a devilishly clever concept with a haunting art style inspired by 19th-century painter Goya. With a back catalogue of lighthearted fare, Gambrinous turned to a darker idea dreamed up by art director Mangan and studio writer Len Cunningham, who are both huge fans of horror. Originally called just Hellfire Club – after the infamous Dublin Mountains hunting lodge overlooking the city – the game would be a new departure for the small team, which at that time in 2023 was just five people. 'Their pitch was exploring a supernatural space based on the actual old ruins just outside Dublin, where real life people come together and are dragged into something supernatural,' explains studio head Larkin during an interview alongside Mangan at the Irish Independent offices last week. 'Eyes of Hellfire is a co-op Gothic horror experience for you and your friends where not all is as it seems, especially your friendships. So what happens there is you're playing together, it's kind of like, Escape the Haunted House or an escape room. 'But we're causing a little friction between the players, so we seed each person with a curse, and that is kind of like a private agenda that you have to solve. You play a session together with, say, four or five people for a couple of hours. And in that time frame, you're really trying to do stuff together, but you privately are trying to sort of get away with something or solve something without people knowing.' If it sounds a little like breakout hit game Among Hit or TV's The Traitors, you're not wrong. But both those of can also trace at least some of their DNA to older social deduction card games such as Werewolf. Having worked up a prototype – Gambrinous used a mixture of old-school paper-based models and software versions in Tabletop Simulator – they began shopping the idea around to publishers. The results weren't exactly pretty. Larkin reckons they made more than 100 pitches and got rejection letters to most of them. But perhaps the longest shot eventually paid off handsomely. For 25 years, LA-based Blumhouse Productions has followed the Roger Corman blueprint of low-budget but creative horror flicks, including Five Nights at Freddy's and The Purge. But in 2023 they decided to get into games, albeit in a low-profile way. 'They'd gone out and said, we're Blumhouse Games and we're publishing horror games,' says Larkin. 'But they hadn't announced a single game. So they were scouting, signing games quietly and they weren't actually that easy to reach. In the end, I got through to them through a fairly senior connection I had made over the years in the industry. 'We'd already spent quite a few months trying to pitch many publishers on Eyes of Hellfire. And I think part of the problems we had with it was a bit too many elements to understand. It was like fusing tabletop or board games with horror, with live action, with suspicion-based co-op. Publishers want hits, but they're often a bit worried about novelty' Mangan jumps in to elaborate: 'The standard publisher might look and say we want a horror game rather than we want a slate of horror games. So the fact that it's a horror game with the board game stuff and the co-op stuff – I guess it's a riskier decision for them. Whereas Blumhouse, with horror as a genre locked in, they're looking for interesting things within that umbrella.' Larkin agrees that's the reason they went with Blumhouse in the end: 'It was straight up a good match where it was an ill-fit elsewhere. We always try and make games that are novel in some way, maybe sometimes too many ways. But we're always looking for something that we think there is a market for.' Sadly for Gambrinous, negotiating the publishing deal didn't involve flying out to LA and being wined and dined – the whole thing was handled remotely. The funding from Blumhouse secured in early 2024 was substantial – Larkin politely declines to put a figure on it – but it meant the studio could then knuckle down and put Eyes of Hellfire into full production by expanding the staffing to nine people. The set-up of the story is that the players arrive separately to the haunted lodge only to discover they are trapped and must work together to explore and escape. Players can roam freely around the rooms but there are elements of turn-based strategy to perform tasks governed by a stock of action points. As the team explored the framing of the narrative, they realised they'd need a character besides the players and the supernatural enemies to ratchet up the tension. Initially, the Host featured only in the introduction but then they cast a little-known actor named Liam Cunningham and the results were just too good to limit him to the start. Cunningham, as you might guess, is related to studio writer Len but is, of course better known as Davos Seaworth in Game of Thrones, among many other fine roles. Family connections aside, he's also a massive games fan and had previously contributed to Gambrinous's previous release, Cardpocalypse. The Host as voiced by Cunningham is a ghostly, enigmatic character whose motives are completely suspect. 'You're never fighting him,' says Larkin. 'He's never a villain. He's never an antagonist. He's always there messing with you. A presence is a really good way of thinking of him.' It's not just the full Irish voice cast that gives Eyes of Hellfire its flavour, Mangan's art and Gary Keane's subtle soundtrack contribute to the air of dread pervading the lodge. Mangan did a lot of research into Gothic romance stories of the 18th century: 'We pulled in a lot of Mary Shelley, Byron and Bram Stoker, who's a local boy. Even Oscar Wilde – there's a few kind of Dorian Gray moments in the game. 'With that in mind, we've looked at a similar period for the art style. So probably the biggest influence for me is Francisco Goya, the romance painter. He did it a series called The Black Paintings, where he was in the depth of illness at the time. It was particularly horrific stuff – very low light and with intense blacks. A classic horror thing. 'The story itself is based on five modern-day characters who are in some way linked to their descendants in the house itself. And they're suffering illness, and that's the basis of the curse that's kind of driven them to meet as strangers in the house, which lends itself quite nicely to the suspicion co-op. 'You don't really know each other. You've ended up in the house and they're dragged back then in the opening of the game to the period piece in the house.' Players won't have to wait much longer to get their hands on Eyes of Hellfire but Gambrinous has also chosen to launch into Early Access at a lower price rather than with a fully complete release. That enables the studio to continue to develop the game with player feedback – potentially for up to a year before the final polished product ships. Larkin says Early Access has become a common way for studios to get their games finished – it brings in money, lets fans contribute their ideas and builds a community of players who evangelise to others. 'It's become a player invitation to join in co-development of the game. So you say, yes, this is a fun experience, you can do all this. 'We're saying, come and join us now. You do buy the game, but you're buying into more development. You're going to get the full finished game for free, essentially, or with your purchase over time. 'That's what the early access idea is. It's been very successful for some games and for some communities that build up around a game early on. Because you can jump in on day one of an Early Access game, play an incomplete version of the game, but still good, like the bar is really high. It's still a very polished and playable experience.' The Early Access version goes live on Steam August 27 for €9 for a limited time. Cleverly, Gambrinous has ensured that every copy sold can host a game for up to four other players, who won't pay a cent – easing the process of persuading pals to give Eyes of Hellfire a go. 'I think that's going to really help us on launch where we have some champions who are really into it and they'll convince their friends and that big barrier is now gone,' says Larkin.
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
The Big Tech Show: How an Irish PC game about a well-known Dublin landmark secured Hollywood funding
Ronan Price, games critic and assistant publishing editor at the Irish Independent, presented this week's episode of The Big Tech Show. The games reviewer is joined by Colm Larkin, founder of Dublin-based indie game studio, Gambrinous. Gambrinous newest game is called Eyes of a Hellfire, which is a supernatural multiplayer game played on PC. The game has secured backing from Hollywood production company, Blumhouse Games. You can listen to the full episode here, on the Irish Independent website or wherever you get your podcasts.
