“I think we have developed something here that feels super authentic to ourselves. It’s a risk-taking game. It doesn’t play anything safe, and I think that’s going to hit with some people. We’re getting a little experimental at points.”
That’s how Conner Rush, creator of FYRE Games studio and developer behind the upcoming Project Songbird, pitches his new release to us as we sit down for an exclusive interview. Joined also by the title’s star, Valerie Rose Lohman (aka Edith Finch from What Remains of Edith Finch), we’re eager to find as much as we can about this buzzy release. Especially given that we named it one of our most anticipated games for 2026!
To set the scene, Project Songbird has been touted as an atmospheric, narrative-driven experience that owes a debt to things like Firewatch and, of course, Edith Finch. Dipping into other mediums, it’s got a bit of David Lynch and Robert Eggers mixed into its DNA too.
You can definitely detect traces of the latter if you read the game’s plot synopsis. After all — while it might not have the period setting of, say, The Witch or The Lighthouse — it does deal with Eggers’ recurring themes of folklore, self-imposed isolation, and people cutting themselves off from the world only to slowly lose their minds in the process.
In it, you play as a struggling career musician, named Dakota, who heads out to a remote log cabin in the Appalachian forest to try and overcome a particularly debilitating case of writer’s block. As they try to reignite their creative spark amidst the pines, they soon discover that things are not quite as they seem out here. And that something terrible is lurking in the darkness.
Further story details are being kept tightly under wraps for the time being, but you can get a flavour of what to expect by checking out the free-to-play “Faceless” teaser that was uploaded to Steam late last year. An original piece of content, it doesn’t give away anything from the finished product; however, it encapsulates the tone, look, and general A24-esque atmosphere that Rush is going for.
To find out more about the cryptic release, we sat down with Rush and Lohman for an in-depth conversation. Among other things, we talk about Project Songbird’s semi-autobiographic elements, its clever use of music, and how development has been shaped by response to the Faceless demo.
Bloody Disgusting: Before we dive into Project Songbird itself, I’m curious to hear more about the “Faceless” teaser you released back in October. The disclaimer that appears upon launch describes it as a “standalone experience with unique environments, altered gameplay mechanics, and an original sequence of events”.
Conner Rush: That’s right.
What was your rationale for doing it this way? Why did you decide against doing a conventional demo that offers a half-hour slice from the existing product?
Conner: Project Songbird is a story-driven experience, and when I was trying to identify a section that could represent it well in a demo, I just couldn’t pick one. It’d either end up spoiling things that we’re not yet ready to reveal or would be unengaging because the player lacks necessary context. You just wouldn’t get invested in what’s happening like you’re meant to.
So, I started thinking about how we could grab the audience without just giving them a [fragmented] piece of the story. While I was thinking about this, I played the demo for an incredible Spanish horror game called Luto, and [the developers for that] took a standalone approach for their teaser. It was very clearly inspired by P.T., and I thought that it was also the perfect direction to take for Songbird’s demo.
So, I then threw Faceless together using environmental aspects from the final release, alongside some fully original bits too. The sequence of events is totally unique to the demo, and I’m super happy with how it turned out. I think having that start-to-finish experience will lead to people wanting to come back for more.
P.T. definitely comes to mind, as does the “Beginning Hour” demo for Resident Evil 7. So, there is a precedent for this kind of standalone teaser. But those were made by AAA companies with lots of resources. Is it not tougher for you as an indie dev, given that you already have so much on your plate with the main game?
Conner: I work a lot! [laughs]. I just really like game development, so I was never too worried about taking too much on. If I’m going to be delivering something, I want to make sure it is the highest quality product it can be and that I am artistically fulfilled at the end of that journey. That’s what I got out of the demo! I do feel like people have been resonating with it thus far, which is great.
On that note, has the reception to the Faceless teaser in any way influenced development on the main game?
Conner: Absolutely! It wasn’t intentional, but the demo has functioned as a kind of playtest for Project Songbird. For instance, I have improved the enemy A.I. based on watching Let’s Plays of the teaser and thinking, “Oh wow! Players are doing this one thing that I never thought they’d try. I should account for that!”
On top of that, I’ve been taking on board more general feedback, which has led to things like a redesign of the main enemies […] So, yeah, a lot of things have been evolving in real time as I’ve been listening to feedback and watching players interact with the demo. Ultimately, I think it’s making the full game a much stronger experience.
Speaking of which, let’s move on to talking about the full release of Project Songbird. In your elevator pitch for this title, you’ve called it the video game equivalent of an A24 or Neon production. What do you mean by that?
Conner: It’s very much an atmospheric thing. I’m a huge fan of [Robert] Eggers, especially The Witch and The Lighthouse, both of which have left a big imprint on this game. I also really like the works of Ari Aster. I just love that risky, slow burn, arthouse feel. I love the tension it brings and the uniqueness you get.
Another name I’ve brought up as an influence, and this isn’t necessarily part of that A24 comparison, is David Lynch. I think all of these movies and filmmakers I’m referring to accomplish a lot by allowing for quieter moments and character work. That’s what I’ve tried to do here.
When many people think about what defines Eggers’ style, it’s all to do with historical settings, authentic representations of folklore, and a meticulous attention to period detail. However, Project Songbird takes place in the modern era, which rules a lot of that stuff out. So, what exactly did you take from Eggers?
Conner: To an extent, it’s a lot of tonal work; the way characters interact with each other, the way the environment works as its own character. But there’s also the folk aspects! While it’s not a strong element of Project Songbird, there is some witchcrafty stuff and bits based around Appalachian folklore. That’s the part of the world where I grew up and where I’ve lived almost all of my life, so I wanted to incorporate that culture in here. I suppose that’s where The Witch inspiration can be seen.
You’ve namechecked a few movies so far, but are there any video games that have left their mark on Project Songbird?
Conner: Absolutely. I’ve always been a big fan of the classic Resident Evils. Only recently have I started exploring Silent Hill as a series, which I have been adoring! It’s been in my circles of discussion for years now, but only with the Silent Hill 2 remake have I really delved in.
Project Songbird also has similarities with certain titles that are purely coincidental. Specifically with Alan Wake. I played the first one when it came to PS Plus and realised: “Wow! I’m doing a lot of the same stuff here!”
Going away from horror, I took a lot from the walking sim genre as well. What Remains of Edith Finch is one of my favourites of all time, and Firewatch was a big point of reference for the voice acting direction, too. Those are some of the best performances I have ever seen in a game! Then there’s The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Virginia, and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. I just love that entire genre.
The demo certainly had walking sim elements, but I was surprised to discover that it also has combat and traditional enemy encounters. You can wield an axe, shoot a gun, or just run away from the spindly creatures that are hunting you. Was that part of your creative vision from the get-go, or was it added at a later stage to give players more agency?
Conner: This is my seventh game, and each one I’ve done up until now has been that walking sim experience. I’ve gotten a lot of good reception doing that. I’ve had great reviews and good download numbers. But I don’t want to rest on my laurels too hard, and felt like I needed to step outside of my comfort zone.
Resident Evil Village had just been released around the time I started developing Songbird, and I loved the way its combat felt. I wanted to recreate that to some extent. That was some of the first prototyping I did.
On top of that, I didn’t want Dakota to feel helpless or lacking in agency in their own story. Having Dakota be this very independent, strong, confident individual not only adds a lot to the story but lets the player have some agency in how they handle things.
Given your love for Edith Finch, it must be exciting to have Valerie voicing your game’s protagonist?
Conner: Oh, 15-year-old me thinks it’s the coolest thing in the world! Our meeting was funny because I actually didn’t know Valerie was the voice of Edith Finch at first. I saw some of her sketches on TikTok, where she was doing things like “What if Edith Finch was in a Disney Channel show”, and I just assumed she was doing a great impression [laughs].
Anyway, we were following each other for like a year on TikTok before I realised that she was, in fact, the original voice actor for Edith Finch. Around that time, I had started developing Songbird, and Valerie felt like such a good fit for the character I was writing. So, I hate to admit it, but I was kind of writing Dakota with her in mind.
We still did a proper audition process, with my casting director [Jenny Yokobori] reaching out to a bunch of different agencies. Jenny even whittled it down to her top five candidates for each role in the game, and Valerie made the cut there. It was pretty immediate for me. I want to believe that me being such a big fan of Edith Finch had zero bearing on that casting. She just really delivered on all of the emotional moments within the audition piece.
Valerie Rose Lohman: It helped that the audition material was so good! You don’t always get great writing. You always want it because it’s such a joy for the actor, but it’s not guaranteed.
On that note, what was your first reaction to the material, Valerie?
Valerie: It’s taken me to some places that I haven’t been before. I’m so excited for players to go on the emotional journey. It’s a true rollercoaster.
One thing that I just love about the story is that it has all these grand circumstances, but also a lot of intimacy. Dakota is isolated for much of the story, meaning that I got to really lean into their vulnerabilities and explore their mindset.
Dakota is a bit of an enigma for the audience at the moment. All we can really glean from the marketing is that they are a musician going through an artistic block and that they have ventured to a secluded rural cabin in the hopes of getting their creative juices flowing again. What more can you tell us?
Valerie: Dakota has a fire within them. Yet at the same time, there are overwhelming insecurities they have to deal with as well. I don’t know that I can say exactly why without going into spoiler territory, but they are incredibly emotionally complex. It was a lot of fun to work on, and I think that Conner was really successful in writing it so well. So much of it is on the page.
It’s fascinating to play someone who is a career musician but also dealing with this crazy supernatural stuff! That’s not their job. They’re not Buffy the Vampire Slayer!
As creatives yourselves, did this story strike a chord with you? After all, it’s about people struggling to realise their artistic ambitions. Is there something semi-autobiographical going on there?
Conner: When I started writing the script, I approached it with a “write what you know” mentality. A lot of it is based on my experience as a musician, which Valerie can relate to as well. We are a very musical pair!
It was definitely a case of “write what you know”. I love music. I grew up in the Appalachian region. The actual cabin you explore in the game is based on my family’s [cabin] that they built on the campground in Tucker County. So, this is all very true to where I grew up.
But it’s not just [that]. It’s also inspired by a lot of my anxieties around the creative process and being an artist. Anyone I have shown this game to who is also in the creative field has connected with it very strongly. I’ve seen a few tears mustered by that group, and that’s a huge compliment to me!
Valerie: I’ve been acting since I was five, and I’ve been working as an actor for over 15 years. I connected with the theme of what it’s like to have a creative block and fall out of love a little bit with your art. It raises the question of how you find that love again. I think that’s something so many artists can relate to.
What role does music play in the game? Is it just a motivation for getting the protagonist out into the woods, or is it a bigger part of the experience?
Conner: It was important for me that, while Dakota is starting to show a disdain for the creative process, they still have passion for the craft and for the art itself. That led to the inclusion of this one really cool touch in the game, where you can cycle through their record collection.
The [discography] here is full of real songs from real local musicians. You can inspect the covers, front and back, look at the vinyl discs, and play the songs.
Not only that, but Dakota will talk about them. They’ll comment on who the band is, where they’re from, and what the music makes them feel. I think that says a lot about them as a character because, even though they’re struggling with their own album production, they still really love music. That’s not been lost.
That’s so interesting! What was the process for getting this real music into the game? Was it a call-out, or did you approach individual artists?
Conner: It was a mix of both. Because I play in an indie band myself, I’m friends with other local artists. So, you’ll see some of those Pittsburgh and West Virginia people pop up.
But, yes, the majority of the tracks were sourced from a call-out on social media. I put a Google form in my bio and encouraged artists to put themselves forward. I got hundreds and hundreds of submissions, which I then narrowed down to 21. I had to turn away some really good songs, but I am super happy with the selection we ended up with. Even if you’re not a games person, you might appreciate Project Songbird because you could find your new favourite band!
Valerie: You did make a Spotify playlist of them all, right?
Conner: Yes. I don’t know how available it is right now, but I do plan on making it public when the game launches!
In addition to the semi-autobiographical focus on music, you’ve tried to put a bit of your hometown into Project Songbird as well. Did you need to do any research to make that Appalachian setting feel authentic, or were you, again, just writing what you know?
Conner: I’ve never been a writer who feels the need to be as accurate and realistic as possible. I’m more about getting to the emotional truth, as opposed to being strictly accurate. I remember reading a book in school called The Things They Carried [a war memoir by Tim O’Brien that blurs the line between fiction and non-fiction]. Spoilers, I guess, but at the end of the book, the narrator admits most of the stories he’s told you aren’t strictly true. Yet they carried an emotional weight that is true. That stuck with me a lot.
With that said, a lot of research did go into [realising] the setting for Songbird. I read a lot about Appalachian folklore because I wanted to celebrate the area I come from. In addition, I did some actual location scouting. My grandfather is an old coal miner, so he took me to some abandoned mines to get a feel for what they look like. That was really cool. I put a little tribute to him in the game, actually. The owner of the cabin you’re staying at is named after him. Don Prickett; that’s my grandpa!
That’s nice! It’s obvious that the game comes from an intensely personal place for you both. What do you think general audiences will get out of it?
Valerie: One of the things that I’ve always loved about video games is how they can create and encourage empathy. I experienced that when working on Edith Finch; so many people identified with that story and have spoken to me about how much it means to them. I just have a feeling that this is going to affect people in similar ways, and I’m really, really excited for that.
Project Songbird is launching on March 26 for PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series X|S, and PC. You can download the standalone “Faceless” teaser now on Steam.
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