Digital Dragons 2026 - Bloober Team Conquers the Horror Genre with Grzegorz Wilczek

If there's one place in Europe where the heart of gaming beats wildly, that place is Poland. And if you find yourself in Krakow during Digital Dragons, the air is filled with incredible energy, between crowded panels and insiders hunting for the next big hit. It was in the halls of the fair that we ran into a true giant of global psychological horror: Bloober Team.

While everyone points to the remake of Silent Hill 2 as their turning point, we at Gamesurf are convinced that the true manifesto of their maturity is Cronos, a title that demonstrates an extraordinary writing ability. To understand where the studio is headed, we had a chat with Grzegorz Wilczek, Global Brand Lead of the team.

Q: Hi Greg, Global Brand Lead of Bloober Team. Thank you for being here with us today and for dedicating some of your time to us. I hope the conference is going well for you.

Greg: Yes, it's like every time. Digital Dragons is extremely busy for us. It's held in Krakow, we're from Krakow, so, you know, we tend to see it as the place where things happen and we're happy to be here.

Q: Okay Greg, I'll get straight to the point with some questions so I don't take up too much of your time. Let's start with Cronos. Many people say that Silent Hill 2 was the real step forward for Bloober Team. We at Gamesurf keep saying it was Cronos. Silent Hill 2 is a fantastic game, we loved it, but Cronos was the real masterpiece because it showed that you're not just good at making games, but also at writing good stories. And in a way, we can say that Cronos was also, I would say, a new beginning for Bloober. How has Cronos shaped the future and present of the company?

Greg: Of course. I mean, thank you for the kind words, they mean a lot to us, you know. But you know, it wasn't something that just happened. Cronos is a milestone for us, of course, but it's been a long journey. And having said that, we tend to see the progression we've made since the early days. We started as a porting house, you could say, but then with Layers of Fear... that was our first big milestone, when we doubled down on the horror genre itself. With Cronos we definitely took a step forward, everything that happened was part of a very specific project; as you mentioned, becoming one of the most beloved horror houses out there.
So we tend to think of Cronos as a logical step after the other games we've made. Obviously Layers of Fear was more focused on narrative. With Cronos, and also with other titles that came before, we tried to focus more on opening up the games, the genre, to new players. And the result, therefore Cronos, was fundamentally the logical step we had in our plans, introducing more mechanics, different settings and so on.

Q: Okay, so it was a "Trust the process", one step at a time.

Greg: Every game we're making builds on the previous one, and it's true when you mention Layers of Fear, it's true when you mention The Medium, and it's true when you mention Cronos, you know. It's a moving puzzle but in the back-end, so to speak, those games are connected and there's a constant progression, a clear vision: to be the leading horror house in the world. And Cronos is just a manifestation of our vision, of the creative minds behind all the projects we're making.

Q: Okay, and that brings me to the next question, because you've actually listed the games Bloober has made in recent years. Obviously you started with Layers of Fear, super beautiful, The Medium... it wasn't very well received by all critics but, in my opinion, it was good in terms of gameplay, you know, it had these two levels of gameplay that were interesting. Then you made Silent Hill, then Cronos... and then lately you announced that you are working on seven games simultaneously. I mean, that's pretty unusual at a time when software houses say "we've been working on one game for 12 years". You just said "let's make seven games". What can you tell me about this, how is the work on these seven games going?

Greg: The really important thing to know is that growing a development house is not something that happens by mistake... it's a deliberate action.
It's really important to note also that not every project is at the same stage of production, you know. So that's also something crucial to take into consideration: not all games will be released at the same time. Anyway, going back to the fact that it's not something we're doing by chance, we want to be the leading horror house, and we're lucky enough to have this creative freedom and to work with many different partners on really exciting projects and IPs.
And that's how we are where we are as a company, fundamentally.

Q: But are these seven projects leading to an expansion of the company also in terms of the number of employees or are you trying to optimize existing teams?

Greg: At Bloober we have a fantastic talent pool.
And our expansion... well, it's been ongoing for many years now. But we're not talking about doubling or tripling the size of our company overnight, because that usually ends in disaster.
We focus on organic growth, on bringing in the right people, with the right mindset, and also on working a lot with external partners globally. This is what gives us the flexibility to have multiple projects in parallel without the huge burden of having 2,000 people within the studio. So, yes, we are growing, but we are doing it in a very controlled and targeted way.

Q: One last question. Looking to the future, where do you see Bloober Team in, say, 5 years? You have this clear vision of being the leading horror house, but are there any other genres or media, like films or TV series, that you are keeping an eye on?

Greg: Horror will always be our DNA, that won't change.
We want to be the absolute benchmark for psychological horror in the world of video games. That said, we support horror on various levels. We don't just create our own projects: we have our publishing subsidiary, Feardemic, which focuses on providing space, publishing, and supporting horror on various levels, also helping other independent developers and smaller productions around the world.
So we approach the horror ecosystem in a 360-degree way. And beyond that, yes, we are very open to expanding our IPs into other forms of media. We have already taken some steps in that direction, exploring the idea of films and TV shows based on our games. I think that good stories, the strong stories we create, can work beautifully outside of just video games. So, in 5 years, I hope you will see Bloober not just as a great video game company, but as a global horror ecosystem that offers experiences across different media. That is the dream and the goal we are working towards.