Piotr Babieno

Bloober Team SA - Media & Entertainment

Profile

My name is Piotr Babieno and I am CEO of Bloober Team. I have always been passionate about games and wanted to create my own one – especially as storytelling is my hobby and love.

Bloober Team was created 15 years ago. As CEO I made many early mistakes but took my lessons to heart. For instance, in the beginning I tried to control every process in the company. This micromanagement created a lot of problems. Finally I understood that what game developers really need is creative freedom, tools and trust. I think that without those mistakes at the beginning, our company DNA would not be so unique. I can say confidently that success creates ego, while failure builds character.

At Bloober Team, we want to become the leader of the widely understood horror genre so that our name appears right next to world legends whenever someone thinks about the horror genre. SILENT HILL 2 is the first game in a new stage of our company, which I call Bloober 3.0. Talking deeply, I would say that we do not want to just be the best in our niche; our goal is to set milestones for the whole industry. Nowadays, horror is the genre which helps us to deal with our daily fears. Wars, crises and global conflicts always spur social fears, and we need tools to prepare ourselves for unexpected. Our role is to help people deal with those emotions through entertainment.

Interview

There have been a lot of developments for Bloober Team since our conversation in the CEO Global Awards 2022. As we are well into a new year at the time of this conversation, how would you describe your outlook for the future?

It is true that 2022 was extremely intense for us. As I mentioned earlier, we entered the new year with an updated strategy and started a new stage in the company: Bloober 3.0. By 2027 we want to be the leader in the horror genre, so our plans are definitely ambitious. We always set ourselves high goals, but those that we are realistically able to achieve.

We have just moved into the new office with a team of almost 230 people. This team is made up of people from different countries with different skills, cultures and needs. My role for the coming years is to make sure that everyone understood where we are going. I do not want to create a company for the next 5-10 years, but for a much longer time. The average lifetime of the gaming development company is 11 years and 3 months. We would like to last for many decades – and not just exist, but create the future of our genre.
How has the team’s experience since the original 2016 release affected their approach to the remastering of Layers of Fears?

We have grown as a company. From the small team of 20 people in 2015 we have grown to almost 230 in 2023!

But it is not about quantity over quality. It was also the reason why we decided to go back to our first horror story and create it again with a new formula. Getting back to the franchise fans loved shows our maturity as a company. The new game will be our series’ crowning work with new gameplay mechanics, new storylines etc. Many times our testers were surprised with how many new things they found, even having spent many hours playing the original game in 2016.

It can be difficult for video game remakes to strike a balance between accommodating long-time fans and drawing a new audience. How are Bloober Team working to attract new players to the series?

True, keeping this balance is very hard. People who played the original games years ago often look at them nostalgically today. With remakes, usually the biggest challenge is to recreate the romantic vision of how the game was back then with great respect, preserving its atmosphere and history, but in an attractive way for current times.

With Layers of Fear we tried to not just remake two games but create a new story which will connect both universes created by us in the first and second parts of LOF. We are also, as always, trying to reflect the actual vibes of 2023. So players will be able to find all the experiences of the last few years (like the pandemic, war, crises etc.), hidden of course between different layers.

What new additions can returning players expect to see in the game’s full release?

In Layers of Fear there will be new gameplay mechanics, new storylines and a new chapter – there will be a lot of new content. The most important, however, is the totally new experience. We cannot just say that we have created a ‘final edition’ of the game. It is really a new experience. Not just for new customers, but for everyone.

Can you tell us anything about how your new collaboration with Konami came about?

We have wanted to make a game set in the SILENT HILL universe for a long time. At the beginning, it was more our dream than a workable goal, but even then we tried to gain the trust of the Japanese giant. Finally, after many meetings, in 2019 Konami invited us to the Tokyo Games Show, where we were asked to prepare our own concept for the remake of the second part of the series.

Of course, talks were also held with other studios from around the world, but in the end it was our concept that was chosen. We have been appreciated for the commitment and passion with which we approach horror. It is a great honour for us. Cooperation with this Japanese giant has also helped us to understand that it is not just the final goal that is important but also the way in which we are moving towards this goal. It is a different mindset compared to the western industry. I think that our DNA is much more mature and unique for this. For the whole company, this experience is definitely much more important than a common project.

Is there anything else that you can share with us about Bloober Team’s current projects?

Currently, the company is working on two large productions: SILENT HILL 2 together with Konami and Project C – a game of our own IP in cooperation with Private Division (Take-Two Interactive). In addition to the two main titles, Bloober is also cooperating with Anshar Studios in the production of Layers of Fears, Draw Distance in Project M and Rogue Games in Project F. We also go beyond the gaming industry; together with Platige Image we are creating a series based on The Medium. Our goal is to become the best ‘horror house’ in the world, so every single project is a big step towards this achievement.

To look at things through a more personal lens, how have you seen your own career and skills develop over the past year?

The company has changed a lot during the last few years. I do not think it could have happened without my own personal re-definition. I am definitely focusing much more on high-level and strategic thinking now. I understand that my first priority is to not disturb my team. I have to be when they need me, but give them my trust and a clear vision for the future.

I have heard it said (and it pleased me very much) that many gaming companies have ideas but Bloober have much more in the way of clear strategy and plans. This judgement satisfies me. These achievements would not have been reached without the amazing people who are working with me. I am trying to listen to them and learn from them every day. I think that this should be the strategy of any CEO who wishes to take care of their company and not their own ego.

Are there any wider trends in the gaming industry that we should watch out for in the months ahead?

We have just come back from GDC and I can see that AI, AR and new mock-up technologies are definitely something we need to look at. Of course there are many new trends of monetisation and so on. But from my personal perspective, we should not focus on always inhabiting short-term trends. What we really needs is the trend which in our niche is always lasting – to create great and fresh stories with the highest quality.

I have a quite rebellious soul and every time shareholders or investors ask me to follow a new trend, I ask: “Why?” I believe that fundamental values and the DNA of the company are much more important. Short-term trends (or I would use the world ‘fashions’) in the history of our industry have often been the cause that destroyed many companies. So we are trying to remain aware of all new trends but use them only if this works for our long-term strategy.

What are you most looking forward to in 2023?

In June we will have a premiere of Layers of Fear, and this is one of the very important moments for me personally. In eastern cultures, 2023 is supposed to be a year of many changes. I have high hopes that many global conflicts will finally end. We have many great ideas and we would love to focus on them and express our creativity. However, we still need to remember about what is happening around us. I do hope that our work will play a small, but influential part, in all of this.

What does this award mean to you?

I am glad that our company is noticed and appreciated all over the world. It is extremely important that our brand is awarded. Being the first Pole to win this CEO Global Award is undoubtedly a great honour and a great distinction. As they say, examples come from above, so I am glad to have received such an award. For me it is a nice gesture and a confirmation that what I do – what we do – we do well.

With all of this, the biggest personal award is the smiles of people from my team, and it is confirmation that we are moving in the right direction. I am taking this award as an honour for the whole of Bloober Team. As I have said before, the CEO is no-one without the right people.