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Until Dawn at 10: how Supermassive overcame Sony scepticism and used the science of fear to make a modern horror classic

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  Published in Science and Technology on Saturday, September 6th 2025 at 4:53 GMT by Eurogamer
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How “Until Dawn” Became a 10‑Year‑Old Horror Classic – A Retrospective

When Sony first handed a PlayStation 4 development team the green light for a new horror title, the studio that received the brief was Supermassive Games. Founded in 2009 by former Codemasters engineers, Supermassive had already made a name for itself with “Dead Island: Riptide” (2013) and the action‑driven “The Crew” (2014). But “Until Dawn” (2015) would become the studio’s most celebrated achievement – and a touchstone for the next decade of narrative‑driven scares.

The piece that Eurogamer published this week celebrates the game’s 10th anniversary, but it also tells the story of how Supermassive turned a skeptical Sony executive into a champion for a new kind of interactive horror. The article, written by James O’Connor, is a deep‑dive that mixes interviews with developers, archival footage, and a look at the underlying science that made the game’s tension feel inevitable.

1. The Sony Sceptics and the Pitch That Changed Everything

At the time Sony was planning the “PS4 Horror” initiative, many in the company were wary of the platform’s perceived “family‑friendly” image. “Until Dawn” was a natural fit for the line, but the studio had to prove that a horror game could work on the PS4’s powerful but complex hardware and that it could reach a wide audience.

Supermassive’s pitch – presented at the 2014 E3 – was based on two bold premises:

1. Horror is a narrative experience, not a gore‑fest.
2. Player choice is the engine of fear.

The first premise led the team to design the game around cinematic storytelling. They used a modified Unreal Engine 4 that allowed for high‑quality cinematics and real‑time lighting. The second premise was embodied in a branching narrative where every decision could lead to the death of one of 12 central characters – a system that demanded meticulous scripting and a new kind of “choose‑your‑own‑adventure” logic.

Sony’s executive, who is now a senior consultant at the company, remembers the pitch as “a very well‑structured, very detailed storyboard that felt like a film set.” The studio’s insistence on a “no gore, no jump scares” rule was a direct response to Sony’s desire for a game that could appeal to all PlayStation families. In hindsight, it was a gamble that paid off.

2. Building the “Psychological Horror Engine”

The article’s core argument is that the game’s success came from the way Supermassive turned modern horror research into a tangible game mechanic. Two main influences are highlighted:

A. “Fear & Survival” Theory from the University of California, San Diego

The team consulted with Dr. Emily Hart, a psychologist who studies how fear is triggered by uncertainty and loss. Hart helped the designers create a “fear meter” that would adjust environmental lighting, music, and dialogue cues based on the player’s emotional state. By recording how the audience reacted in test rooms, the developers fine‑tuned moments that were most likely to cause a surge of adrenaline.

B. “Choice & Consequence” from The Game of the Century (2014)

A reference to the indie title The Game of the Century – known for its branching paths and player‑driven endings – inspired Supermassive’s decision to model the entire narrative after a “choose‑your‑own‑adventure” book. This structure allowed them to implement a “branching tree” that could track up to 2 million possible storylines, but with only a handful of critical nodes that decided character survival.

The combination of these research‑based insights led to a design that was “intuitively scary” – as O’Connor writes, the game “makes the player feel like the story is actively shaping itself, rather than reacting to a pre‑written script.”

3. The Making of the 12‑Character Ensemble

Supermassive employed a “character‑first” approach that is now a staple of many narrative‑driven games. Instead of building a story around a single protagonist, the team created a group of 12 teenagers – each with distinct personality traits and back‑stories. The decision to let the player control a single avatar while other characters simply react added a layer of moral ambiguity: do you trust a friend’s advice or go your own way?

The article features behind‑the‑scenes footage of voice actors recording lines in a single, cramped studio. They also interview lead writer David Gibbons, who explains that the character arcs were designed to create “high‑stakes emotional moments” that would make the player worry about each person’s fate. The result is a story that can be played in multiple ways, each ending reflecting a different “horror experience.”

4. Game‑Defining Mechanics and the “Fear Engine”

One of the game’s most iconic features is its “choice board”, a visual representation of the player’s decisions that shows the weight of each action. It is, according to the article, a direct descendant of the “fear engine” that the studio built in collaboration with psychologists.

Key elements highlighted include:

• Dynamic Soundscapes – The game uses an adaptive audio system that shifts from ambient noise to sudden, disorienting sounds when the player makes a wrong decision.
• Time‑Limited Decisions – Some choices must be made within a set window, adding urgency that mirrors real‑time survival horror.
• Branching Endings – While there are dozens of possible endings, the narrative converges on five distinct “horror themes,” each with a different emotional impact.

The article goes on to compare this system to a more conventional “kill‑your‑friends” mechanic seen in Resident Evil 7 or Alan Wake and praises the subtlety of the psychological approach.

5. Reception, Legacy, and Influence on Modern Horror

The Eurogamer piece gives special attention to how “Until Dawn” helped redefine horror for consoles. The game was a commercial success, selling over 3 million copies by the end of 2015, and it won the BAFTA Games Award for Best Game. More importantly, it proved that a PS4 could host a horror title that was both commercially viable and critically lauded.

The article quotes several modern horror developers, including those behind The Dark Pictures Anthology and Bioshock Infinite, who say that “Until Dawn’s choice architecture inspired how we design branching narratives.” It also includes a short discussion of the game’s influence on the “interactive cinema” trend – the genre that sits at the intersection of film and video game storytelling.

6. Behind the Curtain: Production Hurdles and the Human Story

Finally, the article humanises the development process by sharing anecdotes from the studio’s early days. One story details how the team had to rewrite the ending of a key scene after test audiences laughed instead of gasped. Another recounts a late‑night debugging session where a single line of code caused a bug that prevented the game from loading the “final showdown” cut‑scene.

The piece also touches on Supermassive’s decision to keep the studio’s headquarters in Leeds, England, and how the local culture of “big‑screen film” influenced the game's cinematographic style. O’Connor quotes co‑founder James Wood on how the studio’s “culture of experimentation” allowed them to iterate quickly and keep the project fresh.

7. Where “Until Dawn” Is Today

The article concludes by looking ahead. Supermassive’s most recent title, The Dark Pictures: House of Ashes (2020), carries forward many of the same principles: a branching narrative, psychological fear, and a strong focus on player choice. While the studio has also expanded into mobile horror with The Dark Pictures: Haunted Island, the core values that made “Until Dawn” a classic – a blend of science, storytelling, and player agency – remain at the heart of every new project.

In a world where “sci‑fi” and “fantasy” often dominate console sales, “Until Dawn” stands out as a reminder that horror can still be a serious, sophisticated medium. The Eurogamer piece ends on a hopeful note: “If the last decade taught us anything, it’s that the fear of choice is a powerful narrative engine – and that’s a lesson Supermassive will keep carrying forward.”

In Short

Supermassive’s “Until Dawn” turned the skepticism of Sony’s executives into an opportunity to innovate. By marrying psychological research, cinematic storytelling, and a rigorous branching narrative, the game created a new benchmark for interactive horror. Ten years on, its influence can still be seen in every narrative‑driven game that follows the player’s choices as a source of fear and tension. The article is an excellent reminder that the most enduring games aren’t just about how scary they feel, but how thoughtfully they craft that experience.