Composer Akira Yamaoka Returns to Horror With Bloober Team’s The Medium

During today’s Inside Xbox presentation, Microsoft and its partners revealed several games coming to the Xbox Series X console. Horror aficionado developer Bloober Team was one such dev and revealed its new game called The Medium. Bloober Team most recently released the Blair Witch game, and also produced Observer and the Layers of Fear series. The Medium looks like the team’s first major AAA title (depending on how you feel about Blair Witch) and has a special guest contributing to the musical score. Akira Yamaoka of Silent Hill and No More Heroes fame joins Bloober regular Aradiusz Reikowski for the debut horror title of Microsoft’s next-gen platform.

"You’ve Only Seen Half So Far"

Become a medium and gain a wider perspective at the dual reality: our world and the spirit world. Delve into a mystery only you can solve!#TheMediumGame #InsideXbox #XboxSeriesX #PCgames #HorrorGames #BlooberTeam #akirayamaoka #videogames

— The Medium Game (@TheMediumGame) May 7, 2020

In The Medium, you take control of a person able to travel between the real world, and the “spirit world.” This ability allows for a wider sense of perspective, and you’ll use that to solve the mystery of a grisly murder in a now-abandoned hotel resort. As we can see in the trailer, shifting to the spirit world appears to coat the player’s surroundings in a rust-like color, which does evoke a certain series Akira Yamaoka is most known for. So it’s almost fitting to hear Yamaoka’s signature guitar style loom over the trailer’s stark visual transitions.

The Medium is targeting a Holiday 2020 release window for the Xbox Series X and the PC.