What is Sacrifice Shadows?
Sacrifice Shadows is a cancelled PS3 exclusive title that was set to release in 2009. It wasn't known how far in development the title actually progressed but the company behind it, Sacrificial Studios, closed down after a ton of mishaps happened during development.
The game was planned to be your average run-of-the-mill edgy first person shooter with horror and stealth elements involved, comparable to the classic 1998 title "Blood" with a teensy bit of Thief in there as well. The game followed a man named Nickolas as he was escaping a creepily large hospital, as he was put there for seemingly no reason. The first half of the game has you solving puzzles and sneaking around the hospital avoiding grotesque monsters, trying to find your way out. Upon realizing Nickolas' family was put in this hospital and killed, as well, the game then becomes an visceral first person shooter (while still maintaining the aforementioned stealth elements), so to speak. It overall was planned out to be a sort of Dishonored-type thing where you could choose whether you wanted to speed through and clear every enemy, or sneak around.
Very little about the game overall is known, aside from the basic plot, a few concept ideas, and when it was set to release. No known concept art exists, and there are no screenshots of the game.
The game was cancelled after every member of the development team was found dead, therefore leading to the belief that the studio working on it was "cursed". The company went permanently defunct, having not published a single game ever. Sacrifice Shadows was going to be their first project.
Crime Scene
On October 9th, 2008, most of the team working on Sacrifice Shadows had been found in their office, all with their throats slit and face down on their desks. When the police investigated this situation, they were requested to keep it under wraps by the planned publishers. The police found no evidence of any break ins or any handprints on a single body found. This led to an unsolved mystery, which was furthermore confusing when bodies of others who were working on the game were found at their homes dead, along with their families.
A note was later found in the desk of the composer:
"I have been given little to no direction on what I'm supposed to do with this development, but I'm often told to stay within the office beyond work hours. I have no clue why this is, but I guess I'll have to deal with it. The game's plot is unique but development doesn't seem to be doing well. They offered me extra pay to be a bug tester as well. I played a bit of it, while the first hour is fun, overall the game is missing a ton of promised mechanics, like the stealth, which is pretty much nowhere. You have to run through levels filled with enemies instead of sneak. This is difficult since some of the enemies can 2 hit you. Anyway, the office is pretty creepy at night. Sometimes I feel like someone could be around the corners and stuff but it could just be my imagination. I often see lights in certain areas of the office and whenever I go to investigate them, they disappear. I feel like I could die any minute, hah. Although, whenever I do go to sleep, I do feel like there is a presence above me. I never felt it until my second week of working at the studio. Sometimes I hear weird voices saying gibberish, which creeps me out a ton. Mostly in the office, that is. It often feels like things are in the bathroom as well. I feel a presence whenever in the toilet or something. Anyway, I've been going on about nothing for awhile, I'll end my notes here."
Some argue this adds to the curse theory. There's a lot of divisive thoughts on whether or not this was an actual note left by the composer, who is now dead. The whole studio behind this game was seemingly massacred overnight, with no evidence showing forced break ins or any evidence to figure out who did this whole thing. The only people not affected by this physically were the publishers. The mystery behind this game is unknown.
Curse
People think the fact the whole development team was killed overnight, the note left by the composer, and the overall silence of this game's existence are to prove there was really a curse behind the game. Do you think the game was cursed?
Could there really have been a murder this whole time and the rumors of a curse were just an overreaction?
In the End
As stated in the beginning, not much is known about this game and it's development as a whole. Nobody knows the original creator or most of the team aside from the publisher. The only person who's name was known outside of this project is the composer, M.J. Schramm, who was well known for his often co-production when it came to soundtracks for movies. Mostly during the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, until his demise in 2008.
This whole mystery of it being a "curse" is most likely just a story. Although, the note was used as crime scene evidence and it really does exist, so it really could be real...But we have nothing else to prove any of this. So, with that being said, this mystery is a trail that leads absolutely nowhere.
Update #1
Hello, it's the person who created this wiki page. I received an email the other night letting me know some things. The game's development didn't actually start around 2009, it actually started in 1998. It was set to release on the PS1 with Analog Control. There was a download file with a bunch of things that aren't added to an engine. The email hinted at the engine being the same one used for Alien Trilogy. If you guys could give me some time, I'll be able to add more to this. I'll update when I figure out what it's for.
