The Medium Developers Explain Why the Game is Set in Poland

Since its release, The Medium has garnered quite a lot of attention and has achieved a good deal of success. One of the very first next-gen exclusive horror titles to launch on the Xbox Series X, a lot of fans have enjoyed their time with The Medium. However, for those who haven't played the game, there is one interesting detail regarding the game's setting that did not surface during any promotional material.

Before the game initially launched, the game had a lot of appeal that drew attention from a good portion of the gaming community. With the multiple nods to Silent Hill and even featuring work from the original Silent Hill composer, The Medium had a laundry list of other selling points for diehard horror fans to get behind. Though, one detail that never really came up was the fact that the game takes place in Poland.

For those that have yet to play the game, The Medium takes place during the 1990s as Poland was in the middle of transitioning out of the Cold War and moving away from Communist ideals. In a recent interview with Gamasutra, Bloober Team developers commented on the logic behind why the studio chose that era of Polish history to be the backdrop of The Medium.

Essentially, it had a lot to do with the themes of duality that are present throughout the game. The Medium works with dual realities quite a bit, with core gameplay mechanics utilizing the player flipping between worlds to interact. This played into the idea of Poland's transition and subsequent distancing from Communist ideals and how the two relate to one another. Although, for those who have already played the game, they may have noticed something that contradicts this.

All of the voice acting done in the game is American based, utilizing specifically mid-Atlantic accents. The reason for the lack of a proper Polish presence within the game is due to the effects that COVID-19 has had on the world at large. Being unable to travel to Poland to do the mocap sessions, Bloober Team had to do things in America.

Fortunately, as a way of making the experience more authentic to what Bloober Team was trying to accomplish, there is an option that allows players to listen to the dialogue in Polish as a way of keeping with the setting. Sucker Punch Studios did a similar thing in its most recent game, Ghost of Tsushima, by allowing players to listen the dialogue in Japanese. In any case, this is an interesting look into what Bloober Team's plans for The Medium originally were.

Since releasing back in late January, The Medium has found a great deal of success within the gaming community. With inventive camera perspectives, interesting gameplay, and haunting atmosphere and music, there's a lot for players to love about The Medium. Though, much like with any major release, some players have encountered some technical flaws with the game and the development team has since released a patch for the game that rectifies some of those issues.