Blizzard Veteran Secures Funding for Innsmouth Mysteries, a Lovecraft-Inspired Co-Op Horror Extraction RPG
Bill Roper, one of Blizzard Entertainment’s most recognizable veterans and a key contributor to the original Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo franchises, has officially announced that his studio, Lunacy Games, has secured funding for its upcoming title Innsmouth Mysteries.
According to GamesBeat, the studio received $500,000 in backing from Big Bang Accelerator to develop the project, a cooperative horror extraction RPG deeply inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Set in a mysterious seaside town during the 1920s, the game follows a group of supernatural investigators who must uncover hidden truths, collect forbidden artifacts, and prevent an ancient cosmic evil from awakening before midnight.
Roper, who previously created the cult classic Hellgate: London after leaving Blizzard, originally intended for Lunacy Games to produce Hellgate: Redemption and Skinwalkers, a Weird West-meets-Cthulhu project featuring supernatural cowboys. However, Roper revealed that potential backers were unwilling to fund those larger-scale titles, which would have required budgets between $15 million and $20 million.
Despite that setback, Innsmouth Mysteries found its lifeline through Big Bang Accelerator. Ying Sha, BBX co-founder, praised Lunacy Games’ vision, saying, “Lunacy Games has a clear and compelling vision for a Co-op Horror Extraction RPG, and it's backed by a team of veterans whose track record speaks for itself. We are proud to support studios like theirs that are pushing the boundaries of games. We see Innsmouth Mysteries as a project that perfectly aligns with our mission to support talented teams to bring high-quality, deeply engaging experiences to players.”
Roper believes there’s an unexplored middle ground between indie and triple-A game production, a space where focused creativity meets meaningful storytelling. He explained that Lunacy Games aims to fill that gap by crafting games that blend engaging mechanics with narrative depth and replayability, hallmarks that defined many of his earlier works at Blizzard.
Currently, Lunacy Games operates with just 13 team members, with Roper himself contributing to audio production. While Innsmouth Mysteries has no confirmed release date, its unique concept, Lovecraftian aesthetic, and pedigree of veteran developers position it as one of the most intriguing horror projects in development.
Would you like to see Innsmouth Mysteries take the same dark, atmospheric tone as Hellgate: London, or something closer to Bloodborne and The Call of Cthulhu?
