Scorn, HR Giger's bizarre dream game, won't release on PS4, Xbox One

Scorn, one of the most hauntingly mesmerizing games in recent memory, will skip current-gen consoles. It's only coming to PC and Xbox Series X.

I'm beyond hyped for Scorn, Ebb Software's ultra-bizarre horror fest. It's like stepping into an HR Giger painting. Scorn was originally funded via Kickstarter in 2017 and has been knee-deep in misty weirdness since. This is our first update in a long, long time. And it's a big one.

Ebb confirms Scorn will be a next-gen Xbox Series X exclusive, and it's not coming to PS4 or Xbox One systems. The studio simply doesn't feel current-gen is worth it. And yes, the game is still coming. The developers just don't know when.

"No. We really don't want to spend development time on what would from a technical standpoint (900p resolution, frame rates dipping below 30fps) be a sub-par version of the game and overall not a good experience," the studio said in a recent Steam post.

Ebb also says they partnered with Microsoft because of the huge autonomy the Xbox giant offered. The devs didn't have to give up creative freedom on the game, just exclusivity rights, which is par for the course for any publishing deal.

The team is also impressed by the Xbox Series X and is targeting 4K 60FPS with Scorn, with an emphasis on solid 60FPS gameplay.

So why the long silence? Kickstarter backers started thinking Scorn was vaporware. The game was delayed and consolidated into a single release in 2018, and there hasn't been many updates since. Turns out that making games is hard and expensive, and Ebb Software simply struggled for resources. That changed when they partnered with investment Kowloon Nights. Things are better for Ebb and they're making progress on Scorn.

There's currently no planned release date for Scorn, but it's coming to PC and Xbox Series X and won't be available on PlayStation 5.

"The biggest issue, in our eyes, that is creating all the commotion is a consequence of one necessary evil. Up until 20 months ago, when we signed with Kowloon Nights investment fund, we were constantly struggling with resources. We were barely scraping by, never having time to try out different things, having to half-ass so many tasks just so we could finish anything at all.

"Don't get us wrong we are not moaning about our fate, it's the same for every new indie studio and we were dealing with it in the best way we knew how. What is important, and what we would like you to fully understand is that the only reason we went to Kickstarter, or even made those trailers in 2016 and 2017, was to give ourselves a chance to receive additional funding and survive.

"We haven't done it to vainly show off the work that we have done up to that point, build a community for the community's sake, or make some additional money because it was up there for grabs. We did it as our last chance to finish at least the first part of the game. Splitting the game into 2 parts was a big compromise at that time, thankfully that compromise has been successfully rectified."