Half-Life-inspired Invariant re-announced following Steam delisting, but was "never meant to be" a clone

Survival horror fans can add another upcoming title to their Steam wishlist in the form of Invariant from Faros Game Studio following the game's reappearance on the platform. Touted to combine "atmospheric horror with intense first-person combat and logical puzzles", the survival horror game also blends "exploration, tense firefights, and resource management into a constant struggle for survival."

In an announcement on Invariant's Steam page in June, solo developer Josip Makjanić (a former level designer at Croteam who worked on the Serious Sam games) said of the game's previous disappearance: "A lot happened behind the scenes that pulled the project away from what it was originally supposed to be. Rather than continue building on a foundation that didn't feel right, I made the decision to step back and restart from scratch with a clear direction and full creative control."

Starting as a passion project and as "a love letter to the games [Makjanić] grew up with," the FPS survival horror is said to be "heavily influenced by the PS2 era philosophy of game development," and cites titles like The Thing, Half-Life, and Silent Hill 3 as a form of inspiration.

In early June, a Devlog was published to the game's YouTube channel, where Makjanić spoke more about Invariant's themes and its development. "A major focus of the game is the feeling of being trapped in an isolated and hostile environment where something has gone terribly wrong," Makjanić says, adding that "the game combines slower atmospheric exploration and survival horror with moments of intense combat and progression, resource management, and a strong focus on immersion and tension rather than constant horror."

While the game was initially started by Makjanić and friend Tino Petrović, "as the project gained attention, another person became involved." and eventually, differences "became clear" that stopped Invariant from progressing "in a healthy direction."

He goes on to say that "Invariant was never supposed to be presented as some kind of Half-Life 3 or as a replacement for Half-Life," but that the project was "inspired by certain things from Half-Life, just like it was inspired by other games, films, and ideas, but it was never meant to be a Half-Life clone."

Prior to the game being delisted, a demo was made available, with Makjanić sharing that it was built by "combining systems and content originally created for the trailer" but lacked "the polish, structure, and strong-long term foundation it truly needed." Publishers "liked the concept but considered it too risky to fund at such an early stage." Eventually, the decision was made to delist the game from Steam and start over.

With the game available for wishlisting once more on Valve's storefront, ultimately, the goal is "not to compete with massive cinematic productions or chase industry trends", stating that there's "value in embracing" its indie game nature.

Invariant is now being rebuilt in the Godot engine and is expected to be available for both Windows and Linux users upon its eventual launch.