Frictional Games’ underwater horror SOMA has one week of content development left before it enters a ‘Content Lock’ stage, during which the team will focus on bug-squashing and polishing in the run up to its September 22 release.
”Having this kind of lock is vital as things that might seem really simple additions could have ramifications that cause all sort of unforeseen consequences,” explains the developer. ”In the final weeks leading up to release, you want to make sure that you only fix issues and not cause new ones.”
In many ways, this final stretch will be the busiest time in the game’s development cycle - not only does Frictional have all that optimisation to do, but the team also has to start doubling down on marketing and PR. Though it probably helps that they’ve already got one cult horror classic under their belt in the form of Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
SOMA itself is a sci-fi horror set in an underwater research base, which needless to say is occupied by a menagerie of horrible things out for your blood.
”After such a long development time, five whole years,” says Frictional, ”it feels insane to be this close to the finishing line. In just a month we will have unleashed our game, and all of you will be able to play it!”
