Alan Wake paranoia at a wellness retreat: solo-made horror RPG The Pines finds a publisher

Horror has always understood that the places built to heal us make the best traps. The sanatorium, the summer camp, the lakeside cabin rented to get away from it all: the genre keeps returning to the promise of rest, because its betrayal cuts deepest. The Pines, the debut game from Studio Abattoir, takes that idea at its word. Its creator, the Dutch developer Kevin Jochems, describes the premise as a self-help book come to life, and every bit as bad as you imagined. Now the game has a publisher behind it.

Silver Lining Interactive, an independent publisher based in Macclesfield in the North of England, has signed a global publishing deal for the game. The pitch is precise. Players are Edward Walker, a burnt-out former detective whose therapist sends him to a secluded retreat after a case goes cold. The place promises quiet, recovery and therapists on site; the press material answers its own pitch in two words: it isn’t. Silver Lining names the touchstone plainly, pairing Alan Wake-style paranoia with open-world investigation.

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The idea worth watching is what the studio calls the Stalker System. Every resident of The Pines carries a history and a secret, and the game remembers how Edward treats them. Say the wrong thing, cross the wrong person or dig too deep, and a neighbour who once seemed harmless can return as a stalker, haunting him through the forest. It reads as a horror cousin of the nemesis structure Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor made famous, except that this enemy is born from a conversation rather than a fight. Grow strong enough, and Edward can turn the tables.

Around that system sits a stacked RPG frame. Edward gathers evidence, connects clues and decides whom to trust; he can join factions, build skills and perks, and talk, fight or investigate his way forward. Guns are scarce, so combat leans on bats, axes and the timing of a dodge or a parry. The screenshots released with the deal set the tone: a cheerful welcome banner over a sunlit street, a hooded figure outside the Church of the Spruce, a pig mask streaked in red.

The studio’s origin is its own small piece of folklore. Jochems spent years in corporate film and 3D animation before discovering Unreal Engine on client work, and the obsession that followed became Studio Abattoir’s first major game, made, in the studio’s words, in a basement. He is building it essentially alone, with Daphne Betten on 2D art for the key artwork and Yaron Mesika on motion capture and voice acting. In the announcement, Jochems says the deal gives him the reach and independence to deliver the game without compromises.

The Pines was first revealed in April 2026 and is in development for PC, with a Steam page open for wishlists. The press kit lists a 2027 release, with no specific date yet. Silver Lining says it publishes both physically and digitally, though no console versions or physical edition have been announced for The Pines.

Whether the Stalker System can carry a whole open world is a question only the finished game can answer. But the premise already has a sharper edge than most cabin-in-the-woods horror: at The Pines, the monster might simply be someone you were rude to.

Tags: Horror games, Silver Lining Interactive, Alan Wake, Kevin Jochems, Studio Abattoir, The Pines

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