Horror movie maker Blumhouse enters video games industry

Looking to work with indie studios

Marco Wutz | Feb 21, 2023

Horror movie maker Blumhouse enters video games industry /

Blumhouse, best known for producing horror movies such as The Purge, Halloween, Paranormal Activity, has announced the founding of a subsidiary for producing and publishing video games.

Blumhouse Games is looking to partner with indie studios, targeting projects with budgets below $10 million in keeping with its film business’ spirit. It also wants to stick with horror-themed titles, independent of platforms.

The company has named Zach Wood as its president and Don Sechler as CFO.

Wood previously worked as a producer at PlayStation’s Santa Monica Studio (working on games like Sound Shapes, Hohokum, The Unfinished Swan, and Bound), Arkane and Bethesda (helping with Prey: Mooncrash and the upcoming Redfall), and Iron Galaxy, which recently announced the shutdown of Rumbleverse. He’s been in the industry for over 25 years, bringing the needed experience for the publisher.

Sechler was employed at PlayStation before joining Blumhouse Games, heading the company’s finance, operations, and strategy for publisher and developer relations.

Zach Wood, president of Blumhouse Games. — Blumhouse GamesZach Wood (l.) and Don Sechler (r.).

Don Sechler, CFO of Blumhouse Games. — Blumhouse GamesZach Wood (l.) and Don Sechler (r.).

"For some time we have been looking to build out a team to start accessing the growth opportunity in interactive media. When we sat with Zach and Don they articulated an approach that resonated with Blumhouse’s model and we knew it was a perfect place for us to start our push into the interactive space," said Abhijay Prakash, Blumhouse President. "With their experience, sensibility and knowledge of the gaming marketplace Zach and Don are the ideal leaders to leverage Blumhouse’s unique genre strengths into gaming."

"Through my time in the industry, I’ve had the good fortune of working closely with developers to bring their ideas to life. There’s a unique opportunity for horror and genre in the indie game space, and I’m thrilled about teaming up with Blumhouse to meaningfully leverage the company’s brand, reputation, and creative talent," commented Zach Wood on his appointment.

Blumhouse Games has not yet revealed its first publishing project.

Published Feb 21, 2023

MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg