Independent developer Brian Clark has released a free game called Playable Archive. It is part of a larger project based on the Paranormal Activity horror film series that was cancelled. The game is available on Steam.
Clark and his publisher, DreadXP, had been working on a game called Paranormal Activity: Threshold. Paramount declined to extend the developers' deadline. Clark said he could either rush out a substandard game or walk away. He chose the latter.
I'm a solo developer, and releasing a bad game hits me much harder than it would a giant company, so I walked away.
— Brian Clark
According to the developer, he and Paramount parted on good terms, and the company allowed him to keep the materials he had created. Some time later, the publisher DreadXP suggested releasing what had already been made after all. Clark finished the completed portion and published it under a new title to avoid legal complications.
Playable Archive is described as a “micro-horror” experience that takes 30 to 60 minutes to complete. The game has no save system. The story unfolds through an archive compiled by an anonymous informant, which contains unexplained events. According to the archive, a couple from New England came across a mysterious object while renovating their home. Players will perform demonic rituals and communicate with the dead.
Clark admitted that he felt burned out after the cancellation of a project into which he had poured so much effort, and he thought the game would “just sit on the shelf forever.” The publisher's idea to release the finished portion struck him as a good way to “lay the project to rest rather than leave it as a lingering ghost.”
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