Coffee Stain Publishing, the team behind Satisfactory, Deep Rock Galactic, and Valheim, and Vaulted Sky Games are pleased to reveal they’re partnering with two studios to launch Midnight Ghost Hunt. Ernst & Borg Studio joins the project as environment artists, with a wealth of experience as real-life architects to bring the world of Midnight Ghost Hunt to life. She Was Such a Good Horse, a new studio made up of veteran developers from Avalanche Studios, Paradox Interactive, Ubisoft Massive, King, and more, have come on board to assist across every aspect of the development process.
Coffee Stain Publishing revealed its partnership with Midnight Ghost Hunt developer, California-based studio Vaulted Sky Games, at the PC Gaming Show at E3 in June 2019. The project has been in development for three years, and offers players a new take on the prop hunt genre that sees the props fight back. The spooky 4v4 multiplayer title first went viral in 2018 when Vaulted Sky shared a work-in-progress preview clip on reddit, and new partners She Was Such a Good Horse and Ernst & Borg Studio have been brought on board to help launch the much-anticipated game soon.
She Was Such a Good Horse, a new studio made up of veteran developers from the likes of Avalanche Studios, Paradox Interactive, Ubisoft Massive and King, have come on board to offer holistic support across all aspects of development, including the production of art assets, animations, code, and design decisions.
Based in Malmö, Sweden, Ernst & Borg Studio brings eleven years of invaluable experience of traditional architecture as Ernst & Borg Arkitektur to the environmental design of Midnight Ghost Hunt. The game’s haunted mansion will benefit from the team’s niche expertise in creating environments that are believable and authentic, having worked on AAA titles including Tom Clancy’s The Division 2.
Sam Malone, Game Director at Vaulted Sky Games said: “Both teams have incredibly impressive backgrounds, coming from some of the biggest studios and games in the world. Originally, the development team was just me, but Midnight Ghost Hunt has evolved into a very ambitious project, and with even more talented Swedish folks by my side, I’m confident we can deliver the truly spectacular game I’ve always envisioned.”
Sebastian Badylak, Executive Producer, Coffee Stain Publishing, continued: “Midnight Ghost Hunt is a special game, and whilst Sam has done an incredible job thus far, it became clear we needed to bring in the big guns to help meet his, and our, expectations for the project. With Ernst & Borg’s unique set of skills, and She Was Such A Good Horse’s experience, we feel we’ve built the best possible team to make this game.”
Johan Ernstsson, CEO & Studio Director at Ernst & Borg Studio said “For a game like Midnight Ghost Hunt, where atmosphere and strategically built tension are key to the experience, strong environmental storytelling is essential. We believe architecture and game development are perfect bedfellows and we’re pleased to bring our real-world architecture experience to propel Midnight Ghost Hunt players into a living and breathing world that will spook and delight them in equal measure.”
Mårten Stockhaus, Co-Founder, She Was Such A Good Horse, continued: “We’re very excited to be on board to help develop Midnight Ghost Hunt. The hype for the game speaks for itself, and we have so many ideas and plans we’re implementing to help take the experience to the next level.”
Midnight Ghost Hunt will have an alpha test this Valentine’s Day weekend from February 12-14th, and players can register now for a chance to take part at www.midnightghosthunt.com.
