.png){kind=small}
Until Dawn, despite recent controversy surrounding its PS5 remake, is broadly considered a fun horror experience and a cult classic. The future of the original Until Dawn looks a little shaky in the wake of the remake, but rumors of a proper sequel to the original have also blossomed over the past few weeks.
Though no official statement has been released about the continuation of the Until Dawn franchise at the time of writing, certain changes in the remake, alongside Sony's push to make the IP into a broader franchise, suggest that such a possibility isn't unlikely; new endings shed some light on the fates of Sam and Josh, played by Hayden Panettiere and Rami Malek, respectively, suggesting that there may be room for a continued story with these characters. The potential release of an Until Dawn 2 would also synergize with the David F. Sandberg film, which recently wrapped filming, adding further incentive for its development. What exactly its premise and broader plot could look like is another question, but there's certainly evidence for its existence.
What We Know About the Rumored Until Dawn Sequel
The most substantive rumor about Until Dawn 2 comes courtesy of XboxEra co-founder Nick Baker, who recently tweeted that Firesprite is working on Until Dawn 2. This is something of a surprise, not only because it suggests a pivot away from Supermassive Games' well-established choose-your-own-adventure formula, but also because of Firesprite's pedigree: the studio's largest project to date is Horizon Call of the Wild, a VR spin-off set in the same universe as Horizon Forbidden West.
Baker's claims are supported by job listings for Firesprite which state that the company is working on a "narrative-driven horror game" in an already-established franchise. With Firesprite being a Sony-owned studio, it's not too great a leap to argue that this mysterious project is related to Until Dawn, especially since Sony controls the rights to the franchise—it's possible for Until Dawn 2 to be made without Supermassive's involvement. Of course, this raises the question of why Supermassive wouldn't be in charge of the sequel for the IP it created, but this could be chalked up to the studio's myriad other projects, including the Dark Pictures Anthology.
Baker's claim about Firesprite was preceded by speculation about the possibility of Until Dawn 2 based on changes in the remake. In the original game, Josh would either be killed or turned into a Wendigo, while Sam, the arguable lead of the story, would either die or escape, her future unknown. But new endings introduced in the remake allow Josh to survive, and an epilogue gives a glimpse into Sam's life in Los Angeles after the events of the story at the end of the game. It's suggested that, riddled with PTSD, Sam is planning on taking the fight to the Wendigos herself.
Considering how central both Sam and Josh are to the first game's story, not to mention the star power of Panettiere and Malek, it would make sense to include them in the potential sequel. That said, the narrative of such a game would have to contend with some complications, such as the fact that a canon ending would need to be established for the first Until Dawn, running the risk of retroactively cheapening its focus on player choice. Until more news breaks, ideally from an official source, this sort of speculation is all that fans will have to go off.