Sam Barlow, the visionary creator behind FMV hits Her Story and IMMORTALITY, has officially revealed his next major project: a live-action sci-fi horror title titled PRECOGNITION.
Co-developed alongside acclaimed horror film director Brandon Cronenberg (Possessor, Infinity Pool), the project—previously teased under the working title Project C – is set to launch on Xbox Series X|S in Spring 2028. Publisher Kinetic Publishing and Barlow’s studio, Half Mermaid Productions, announced the game today.
PRECOGNITION builds on Barlow’s signature non-linear FMV style, placing players in the shoes of Diana, a woman who begins receiving visions of the future after receiving an experimental brain implant.
Gameplay revolves around inspecting these premonitions and committing key details to Diana’s present-day memory. However, foresight comes at a cost—the moment Diana locks a detail into her memory, the timeline shifts, unpredictably altering the future ahead of her.
“We’ve really been trying to test the limits of non-linear storytelling… encouraging player agency and freedom,” said Sam Barlow. “We’ve pushed ourselves even harder with PRECOGNITION by bringing the feel of investigation and mystery games into a world of cause-and-effect, with a story that spins out as a consequence of your choices.”
Cronenberg joined the project’s writing room alongside Barlow to co-develop the narrative. According to Barlow, Cronenberg was already a fan of Half Mermaid’s previous works, making the partnership a natural fit to craft an authentic sci-fi horror experience.
“The films I make tend to be subjective and experiential, with the horror emerging as one person’s perspective of the world warps around them,” Cronenberg explained. “The games that Sam and the team have made over the years are subjective experiences by their very nature—no two people will have the same experience with them. It’s the perfect place to explore these themes further.”