Finally, a release date

Silver Pines looks incredibly exciting, and we finally have a launch date. It lands October 8th. But hey, there is more good news, a demo is already out on Steam!

Play

The Silver Pines release date trailer on YouTube

Silver Pines is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, Switch and PC (Steam and Epic).

This is a game I have been following for a while. I first wrote about it over a year ago.

My last look at Silver PinesNew Silver Pines gameplay from the Future Games Show

Occult symbols carved into a peeling wall in a dark room in Silver Pines The occult looks like it has a real presence in Silver Pines / Credit Wych Elm

A Twin Peaks homage

There are plenty of Twin Peaks references to pick from here! Names like Eddie Velvet, Red Walker and Silver Pines reek of Lynch from a mile away. Same with the aesthetic, a small industrial town in the Pacific Northwest.

The setting is a small logging town in the northwestern US, plagued by strange disappearances and visions. You play as private investigator Red Walker, brought in to solve the disappearance of a musician named Eddie Velvet.

I read both Eddie and Velvet as references to Twin Peaks and Lynch, with Big Ed and Lynch’s recurring fascination with velvet, both red and blue.

I love how this looks. The combination of pixel art and horror should land, assuming they nail the atmosphere and the storytelling.

Gameplay

The gameplay itself is built around exploration, gathering resources and the slow, methodical pace of the old survival horror classics. I’m already picturing too little ammo and stressful inventory management.

The developers cite Resident Evil 1 through 3 and Silent Hill as inspiration. The visuals combine hand-painted environments with rotoscoped animation, where they film movement first and draw over it frame by frame.

A foggy town street in Silver Pines with a figure under an umbrella, a clock tower and street lamps Screenshot from the trailer that announced the release date. / Credit Wych Elm

Scandinavian developers

Maybe the most exciting part for me is that Wych Elm is a small studio of five people. They work spread between Sweden and Norway. Among those involved are Linus Larsson and Mattias (Snygg), who have previously worked on Helldivers 2 and Yoku’s Island Express.

A red-lit room with stacks of old TV screens behind bars in Silver Pines Screenshot from the trailer that announced the release date. / Credit Wych Elm

On top of the inspiration coming partly from a cemetery called Skogskyrkogården (the Woodland Cemetery), Linus Larsson mentions to 80.lv that there are Norwegian developers involved too.

This is something I want to know more about! Who are they? How is the team put together? What are they doing about salaries during development?

A lone figure crouches in water in a grey, rain-heavy landscape with dead trees Screenshot from the trailer that announced the release date. / Credit Wych Elm

Either way, first I need to get the demo played, and for that I need time!

Play the demo and add it to your wishlistSilver Pines on Steam