Stylish survival horror White Night hits PS4 this week

White Night is our first game as an independent developer. We designed it as a homage to the classic survival horror games that we love so much. There’s only one simple rule at the heart of this mature, psychological tale: beware the dark. As a wounded man searching for help in a large, isolated mansion, you’ll need to tread carefully to avoid falling victim to the terrors that hide in the shadows. Your only means of defense are the fragile lights you’ll find scattered throughout the house, which reveal new clues and ward off the night.

But when it came to White Night’s visuals – an original black-and-white style that immerses players in the dark – we chose to honor another art form we love: the gripping atmosphere of old film noir. So when the opportunity arose to produce a live-action trailer for our game, accompanied by a song from its soundtrack, we jumped at the chance.

The goal was to bring the world of White Night to life in an unconventional way, highlighting how the unique themes of horror and noir can play off one another to create something captivating in its eeriness. Nassim Maoui (who co-directed the video with Christophe Mentz), a movie director, close friend and videogame fan, gave us the idea that started the whole thing. The song featured is performed by Froydis Arntzen Dale, a Norwegian actress well known to jazz and opera lovers (who also plays an intriguing character in the game).

 
Part of our team comes from theatre and film backgrounds, so we got to be involved in every step of the production process, which is quite a feat for a studio of our size. The costume tests and shooting introduced us to a brand new universe, and that’s exactly what we wanted to achieve with OSome: mixing genres and industries in order for everybody to benefit from each other’s unique experiences. The trailer and the game were produced at the same time, and we worked closely with our costume designers, make-up artists, cinematographers, cameramen, actors and more on the consistency of both worlds.

And that collaboration definitely comes through in the end. From the costumes, props and set to our main actress (who performed her character for us using motion capture techniques), both the game and the trailer reflect and reinforce one another. If you pay attention, a few of the paintings in the video can also be found in the game, and some of White Night’s textures were even captured by our artists on the spot while the film crew was shooting. What’s more, the trailer references a very specific scene from the game (which of course we won’t spoil for you so close to release).

So please enjoy! Perhaps it will entice you to dive into the provocative world of film noir for yourself. White Night will arrive on PS4 on 4th March priced £13.99/€14.99 – we hope it keeps you up all night, alone in the dark.