The Sinking City 2, a sequel to the 2019 detective horror title, has been revealed at Xbox's Partner Preview event and is leaning even harder into its Lovecraftian inspiration. The Xbox Partner Preview show highlighted some of the exciting third party games set to launch on Xbox in the coming months, including Final Fantasy 14's March 21 Xbox release date, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy, another look at Capcom's RTS mashup Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, and much more.

Developed by Frogwares, a studio known for its Sherlock Holmes adventure games, The Sinking City was released in 2019 and largely flew under the radar. The Lovecraftian horror detective game was set in the gloomy fictional 1920s fishing city of Oakmont, Massachusetts, and featured Resident Evil-style third-person shooting combat. One of The Sinking City's more interesting gameplay elements was the incorporation of its detective mechanics, which allowed players to peruse crime scenes and come up with deductions to advance the game's narrative.

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At Xbox's recent Partner Preview showcase, The Sinking City 2 got its first ever reveal trailer, which was stamped with a 2025 release window. The cinematic trailer features heavy horror elements, drawing inspiration once again from H. P. Lovecraft's notorious cosmic horror writings. Frogwares' Head of Publishing, Sergey Oganesyan, spoke with Xbox Wire about what Sinking City fans, and horror enthusiasts in general, can expect from the sequel. "The Sinking City is one of our most successful titles, because of our stronger horror genre leanings and the setting...it was kind of a breakthrough, and we are super excited to work on a full-scale horror game." At the top of the list was The Sinking City 2's darker shift into a full-blown horror experience. While the first game certainly featured creepy horror elements and an incredibly damp and dreary atmosphere, it wasn't truly considered a bona fide horror title, as its horror mostly aired on the lighter side.

This deeper horror tone won't be the only change brought in the sequel. The Sinking City 2 will be set in a new town, named Arkham, and will give players control of an all-new protagonist. While no further details of this new hero were divulged by Oganesyan, he did confirm that Arkham will be a bit smaller than the original game's Oakmont. These changes in setting and protagonist hope to better welcome new players without making them feel like they need to play through the first game. Oganesyan also noted that The Skinking City 2 will have a larger focus on combat, and that, unlike in the original, the detective mechanics will be optional, but will remain helpful. Third-person shooting was one of The Sinking City's weaker points, so it'll be interesting to see how the combat will be improved in the sequel.

When Can Fans Expect To Learn More About The Sinking City 2?

It's possible that gamers may learn more about The Sinking City 2 later on in the year, perhaps at Gamescom or The Game Awards. Oganesyan also noted that The Sinking City 2 began pre-production about two years ago. With this in mind, it would be wise to expect the sequel to be aiming for later on in its 2025 window, also considering Ukraine-based Frogwares is developing the title during the ongoing Russo-Ukranian war.

The Sinking City

The Sinking City is a 1920s-era Lovecraftian mystery detective adventure game that was developed by Frogwares and published by Nacon. The game features an open world, non-linear quests and progression, RPG elements, horror themes, and unique sleuthing gameplay.

Platform(s)

PS4 , Xbox One , PC , Switch , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Released

June 27, 2019

Developer(s)

Frogwares

Publisher(s)

Frogwares

Genre(s)

Action , Adventure