She’s Leaving is an upcoming indie “forensic horror” title that has personally intrigued me since I first caught wind of the mission. The sport options forensics knowledgeable Charles Dalton, investigating an allegedly unkillable serial killer by illegally coming into varied crime scenes.
To study extra in regards to the artistic imaginative and prescient and varied inspiration sources behind the mission, we sat down with Sam Griffiths, co-founder of Blue Hat Studio, to debate how She’s Leaving got here to be and the ethos behind the forensic horror subgenre.
ROH: You’ve cited True Detective, Dexter: New Blood, and Resident Evil as key inspirations. Are you able to stroll us by how every of these works formed the tone, pacing, and total id of She’s Leaving?
True Detective was a serious turning level for the writing. The dialogue in that present is refined, loaded, and divulges character without having huge speeches. After watching it, I noticed I needed to rewrite plenty of She’s Leaving. To not imitate it, however to push myself to discover the characters extra deeply and let their personalities come by within the smallest traces. It modified how I approached conversations, pacing, and emotional rigidity.
Dexter: New Blood influenced the psychological aspect of the sport. Dexter is obsessive and lonely, and people traits drive nearly every little thing he does. That mixture makes him determined, and that desperation is one thing individuals can relate to, minus the killing. In She’s Leaving, it’s these human qualities that impressed components of Charles as a personality, particularly the sense of isolation and the obsessive want to grasp what is occurring round him.
Resident Evil formed the environmental aspect of the sport. Their areas are masterclasses in environment, from the lighting to the sense of isolation to the way in which the worlds really feel hostile. Their puzzles are additionally extremely artistic. We needed to observe that path and construct environments that make the participant really feel alone and uneasy, with puzzles that really feel like a pure a part of the house moderately than easy obstacles.
Collectively, these influences created the tone of She’s Leaving. Intimate dialogue, a personality pushed psychological edge, and atmospheric environments that construct rigidity.
ROH: True Detective is understood for its oppressive environment and slow-burning dread. How did you method translating that form of psychological rigidity into interactive gameplay?
What stood out to me within the first season of True Detective was how usually the present centered on the panorama falling aside. For me, that visible decay symbolizes characters who can’t transfer on. They can not rebuild who they’re if they’re caught up to now.
In She’s Leaving, there are moments the place the world round you begins to interrupt down in an identical method. The surroundings reaches a degree the place it merely collapses beneath its personal weight. You possibly can learn that as an indication that it’s time to rebuild, or you possibly can learn it as an indication that issues have gone too far to repair. That alternative, and the stress round it, is left to the participant.
ROH: Dexter: New Blood leans closely on forensic element and the inside battle of somebody who “seems too carefully.” How did these themes affect your protagonist and the sport’s investigative mechanics?
Obsession could make somebody extremely expert at what they do, however it could possibly additionally harm every little thing else of their life. In She’s Leaving, that performs instantly into how Charles thinks and the way he investigates. If you remedy a blood spatter, Charles explains precisely what he’s seeing and why it issues. You hear the precision, the main target, and typically the vanity in the way in which he breaks down every sample. His strengths and flaws are each seen within the mechanics themselves.
ROH: Resident Evil has such a powerful legacy in survival horror. What particular components from that collection knowledgeable your method to stage design, useful resource administration, and enemy encounters?
Stage design was a serious inspiration for us. Resident Evil has an unimaginable method of giving gamers freedom when fixing puzzles, particularly in locations just like the R.P.D. station. We needed to seize that very same feeling in She’s Leaving. Gamers can method challenges their very own method, there isn’t a set route, and you may discover with simply your taser. After all, you continue to must be careful for the indignant Welsh man screaming for blood.
ROH: You talked about learning actual crime scene stories. What did that analysis course of appear like, and what shocked you most whereas diving into genuine forensic documentation?
I’ll be sincere, it was bleak, however it was additionally fascinating to see how the forensic course of really works. In She’s Leaving, we streamline plenty of the tedious components to make it enjoyable and fascinating as a sport.
What shocked me probably the most was how delicate the method is and the way simple it’s to unintentionally damage a criminal offense scene. Lots of people have gotten away with their crimes due to small errors or oversights, and that precision (or lack of it) actually caught with me.
ROH: Blood spatter evaluation is notoriously complicated in real-world investigations. How did you stability scientific accuracy with playability when implementing these mechanics into She’s Leaving?
I’ve all the time been fascinated by how Dexter may have a look at a single blood droplet and clarify precisely what occurred. In She’s Leaving, we deal with the visible aspect of fixing a blood spatter moderately than the maths and physics behind it.
At its core, the mechanics are correct to the data I’ve studied, however blood spatter evaluation is in the end a subjective course of. That offers us some room to take artistic liberties for leisure whereas nonetheless staying true to the ideas of the way it really works.
ROH: Forensic groups have extremely structured workflows. Did any particular procedures or real-world methodologies instantly affect your in-game instruments or investigative sequences?
In She’s Leaving, the participant begins the blood spatter course of by deploying a tripod. From there, blood strings shoot out and wrap across the sample of blood on the wall. In actual life, that is used to calculate the trajectory and origin of the blood, however we don’t go into the total complexity within the sport. It really works as a visible indicator that helps the mechanic and helps make the method really feel tangible and fascinating.
ROH: Horror usually leans into exaggeration. How did you guarantee the sport stayed grounded whereas nonetheless delivering a way of dread and rigidity?
Basing the sport round a serial killer was key to retaining it grounded. The primary menace is human. He seems such as you, he simply occurs to be greater and angrier. Pair that with a mansion caught in a storm that’s breaking up round you, and the sport naturally feels excessive stress. One misstep and you’re gone. There isn’t a fancy dying animation or cinematic ending. You might be merely snuffed out straight away. That immediacy retains the stress actual and the dread fixed.
As a two-man studio, what had been the largest challenges in bringing such a research-intensive and visually detailed horror mission to life — and what benefits include retaining the crew small?
Within the early days of the mission, the toughest half was discovering the data we would have liked. We didn’t actually know the place to look. I feel the important thing to creating sturdy visible element is lighting. When you learn to management it, it turns into a lot simpler to make one thing really feel real looking. After that, it’s principally analysis and learning how different video games deal with their environments.
Time and finances had been all the time challenges as effectively. We each have day jobs, so we might come residence and work all night time, each night time, for years. That may be grueling, particularly when issues aren’t going your method. However with a two-man crew, you all the time have somebody going by the very same factor. That creates a powerful sense of belief and connection along with your companion, which makes the grind extra manageable.
ROH: She’s Leaving blends procedural investigation with psychological horror. When gamers ultimately step into this world, what emotional or thematic expertise do you hope stays with them after the credit roll?
We would like gamers to go away the sport fascinated about the alternatives individuals make when pushed to their limits. About obsession, guilt, and the results of pursuing the reality at any price. The hope is that the stress, the isolation, and the ethical grey areas stick with them, making them query how far they themselves would go when confronted with related pressures. It’s much less about scares and extra about leaving a way of unease that lingers lengthy after the credit roll.
That’s all we now have so far as the interview goes. As She’s Leaving approaches its launch date of December 2, 2025, you possibly can count on a evaluation from myself within the coming days. The sport can be obtainable for buy on PC for $13.99 with a ten% low cost on launch, and PlayStation 5 and Xbox consoles for $16.99. You possibly can wishlist the sport on Steam as we method the sport’s winter launch window.
