Bokeh Game Studio casts motion-capture for possible new horror project

• The reporting points to a possible horror game, but the studio has not confirmed that genre.
• The casting info mentions River, Dean, Lyra, Hazel, Becca, Dena, Emma, and an eight-year-old girl.

What happened

Bokeh Game Studio, the Japanese team led by Keiichiro Toyama, is reportedly working on motion-capture casting for a new project. The report comes via Eurogamer, which cites casting information previously shared by MP1st. In the available sources, the project has not been officially announced by Bokeh Game Studio, but it is described as a new major project for which the studio had already been hiring staff.

The casting details list several roles, including River, Dean, Lyra, Hazel, Becca, Dena, Emma, and an eight-year-old girl. The descriptions are said to reference themes such as drug use, human trafficking, violence, abuse, grief, and sex work, along with creature transformations. According to the reporting, the studio is looking for full-body, facial, and voice performance capture, suggesting it wants to record multiple forms of acting.

Eurogamer says the project appears to be a new horror game and likely does not yet have a title. That remains an interpretation of the available information; Bokeh Game Studio has not made an official announcement in the sources provided. The studio had previously said it had started work on a new major project and was hiring for core development roles, including artists, programmers, game designers, production, and marketing.

The studio released its debut game, Slitterhead, in 2024. Keiichiro Toyama is also known as the director of the original Silent Hill and as the creator of Siren and Gravity Rush. The reporting on the new project is therefore being framed in the context of Toyama’s earlier horror and action-adventure work, but the available sources do not confirm that the new project is directly similar to Slitterhead.

Background

Bokeh Game Studio was founded by Keiichiro Toyama, a developer with a long history in horror and action projects. His earlier work includes Silent Hill, Siren, and Gravity Rush. That background explains why reporting on a new project from the studio is quickly linked to horror, even though that has not been officially confirmed in the available sources.

According to the sources, the studio began work on a new major project after Slitterhead and is hiring staff for it. Bokeh Game Studio’s careers pages mention roles in art, programming, game design, production, and marketing. That points to a broader development phase, while the casting information offers a more specific look at possible characters and performance-capture requirements.

The circulating casting information adds more detail about possible roles and performance-capture needs, but it does not confirm that these are the final characters or the finished concept. The names River, Dean, Lyra, Hazel, Becca, Dena, Emma, and the eight-year-old girl come from the reported casting sheet and are therefore provisional. The listed themes, such as drug use, human trafficking, violence, abuse, grief, and sex work, should also be treated as part of that reported information rather than an official summary of the final game.

The available sources also make clear that the project’s status is still uncertain. The studio has confirmed that it is working on a new major project, but not that it is a horror game, not that the title is missing, and not that the named characters are final. The Eurogamer and MP1st reporting therefore offers an early look at casting and production, while the project’s final form remains open.

Sources

• Eurogamer: reporting on casting for a new Bokeh Game Studio project
• MP1st: source of the cited casting information
• Bokeh Game Studio: careers and news sections about new development and hiring