Unanticipated Issues: Servers on Fire in Content Warning Horror Game

TFD – Explore the unexpected challenges faced in the horror game “Content Warning” due to a sudden influx of players, leading to servers being on fire. Delve into the intriguing meta-narrative aspects of the game’s development amidst these issues.

Ben disappeared somewhere in the pitch black of the Old World. A handful of streamers gathered to investigate its monster-filled caverns and hallways, only to find their friend had gone missing. “Did Ben die?” one wondered aloud, just before another spotted him with relief in his voice. “I’m not even kidding, it took me,” Ben starts to say. “It carried me a mile underground.” One of his companions interrupts: “Wai-wai-wait, shut up, shut the fuck up, shut up! Tell that story on camera now.”

Ben answers, shifting into position, “Oh, OK, OK.” Someone lights him with a flashlight. A gelatinous monster behind him is struck by light. It yanks him away, again, before he even can finish his sentence. Luckily, his kidnapping is all on camera this time, and content creator videogamedunkey has a potential viral hit on his hands—both in the game, Content Warning, and on his real-life YouTube channel.

Developer Landfall Games’ cooperative horror game Content Warning, which revolves around trying to film monsters (and survive) in order to gain views on a spoof YouTube channel, has become an enormous hit in just one week after its release. Over 6 million users downloaded it in the first day it was available on Steam.

Created in just six weeks by a small group of five developers, Content Warning pokes fun at the exact people it was designed to cater to: game streamers looking to gain popularity and their avid viewers. As a result, it has swiftly become the newest hot subject in gaming. An apt meta-commentary on the lengths certain influencers will go to in order to succeed. Across YouTube and Twitch, where the game’s fans are most visible, everyone just knew what to do: film, film, film.

The first time the Content Warning team recorded and shared a video of their excursion, they knew they had something exceptional. “It was hilarious right away,” recalls Zorro Svärdendahl, the developer. It’s not that they’d done anything special—in fact, they’d mostly filmed each other walking behind trees and playing peek-a-boo—but the bones were there. All they had to do was add more punch to the game’s videos.

Players have three days to record footage that will get enough views for them to post online, but they run the risk of dying each time they set foot in the Old World of the game. Monsters frequently make abrupt, shadowy appearances and even let out startling screams.

The final video, which the remaining team members see together at the end, usually has a Blair Witch-esque found footage feel to it—there are a lot of screaming scenes, shaky running shots, and most importantly, individuals yelling things like “Get this on film.” The humorous design of the game, which features SpookTubers that resemble inflatable arm-waving creatures and faces that users create by entering emoticons, adds to the overall entertainment value.

Content Warning is a part of a long-standing tradition at Landfall Games, which releases a small, silly game on April Fools’ Day every year. Last year’s title was about the many players who have adapted to being influencers; this year’s title is about a parody of battle royale. There’s a huge social element at work, where people role-play with their friends in the game. Sometimes they’re a YouTuber-type, and other times they’re a news reporter trying to conduct a very turbulent interview. People get creative.

Hanna Fogelberg, head of community at Landfall, believes that “if you’re hanging out online a lot, which we all do, you absorb [the culture]”. “You understand the culture and memes around it, even if you don’t watch a streamer or a YouTuber every day.”

The team had wanted to create a horror game before this year’s April Fools’ release, and Content Warning allowed them to fulfill that desire. According to Svärdendahl, monsters in horror games add to the experience, but seeing them in person is not recommended. The opposite is provided by Content Warning, who claims that finding the creatures is not only something you should do but also contributes to the humor of the game. “It feels a bit mythical,” he explains, if you are able to film an uncommon monster or find yourself in a very strange situation.

It seems perfect reason that the monsters themselves defy logic given their creation. The monster models were created and animated by Erik Skog, Svärdendahl’s codeveloper. Svärdendahl describes his method as being straightforward: “He would just be like, ‘So I made a little guy who screams,’ and then that’s it.” We’re like, ‘OK, that’s amazing, Eric.’” (While none of the monsters have official names, the screamer is appropriately nicknamed Screamo.) One of the game’s more common encounters, a weird little snailman, was welcomed with equal enthusiasm.

Svärdendahl claims, “He had been up late the previous evening and he said, ‘I made a snailman.'” There was no conversation. It was simply, “Well, the snailman is back.” It seems like a good idea.

Monsters have several functions. A blob can snatch players away from their friends and dump them somewhere else on the map to force groups apart. An very annoying creature is a lanky egg beater monster. “He runs into walls,” Svärdendahl says. “He’s really silly and super dumb. I enjoy how he creates so much chaos in groups, he’s so loud, but he doesn’t really do anything.”

The game has just been out for a little over a week, but the developers immediately want to add additional creatures, maps, and variety. Videos with a warning about content often receive thousands of views on Twitch within days, if not hours. It’s the same on YouTube.

However, the sudden increase of players has brought about some unanticipated issues. “I apologize, but the servers are on fire,” Svärdendahl says. “We are addressing it.”