SEGA announces Two Point Hospital, the spiritual sequel to Theme Hospital [UPDATE #2: Bullfrog and Lionhead composer Russell Shaw joins]

UPDATE #2:

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Two Point Studios has revealed on Twitter that composer Russell Shaw will serve as Audio Director on Two Point Hospital. Shaw previously worked for both Bullfrog and Lionhead, and his credits include the entire Fable series, Black & White, Magic Carpet, Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper, and most importantly, the original Theme Hospital.

We're excited to announce that we're working with the excellent Russ Shaw @_GoesLikeThis_ who is consulting as Audio Director for us on @2PointHospital #WelcomeRuss pic.twitter.com/VUy9vWV2LX

— Two Point Studios (@TwoPointStudios) January 23, 2018

You can check out Russell Shaw's website here for his credits and some of his Fable tunes, including from the unreleased Fable Legends. Better though is the Theme Hospital playlist which we have on repeat.

This is just one more reason to be excited about Two Point Hospital, if you needed any more.

UPDATE:

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<a href=http://www.pcgamer.com/two-point-hospital-is-the-first-of-many-throwback-sims-say-its-creators/">PC Gamer</a> interviewed the team at Two Point Studios regarding Two Point Hospital, and the studio confirmed that while Mod Support is not planned for launch it will definitely be coming later. Technical Director Ben Hymers, who previously worked at Lionhead, said:

"I've thought a lot about modding from a technical perspective. On launch we're not going to have modding because it's hard and I need to think about how to do it, but yeah that's something we aim to do in an update later. It's in the plan."

Which is certainly good news. New weird diseases and rooms to cure them? We're all for that.

The other thing they're considering is online play. Fortunately not directly competitive play, but asynchronous challenges instead. Designer Ben Huskins describes it:

"Our approach to online is to think of it as creating a bit of a social feel to the game, and basing that on asynchronous play. We're very aware of the fact that a lot of people play their simulation games as single-player experiences and don't want to have to feel the influence of other games. Our approach is that it's very much something that you opt into - if you're into, you can get involved on that side of it as much as you want to. "

We certainly wouldn't mind optional challenges based on what your friends are up to. Theme Hospital of course had an end-of-year leaderboard and awards but that was just against AI opponents, throw real people in there and it could get interesting - as long as we can turn it off, of course.

Original Story:

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The ex-Bullfrog and Lionhead team at Two Point Studios have announced their first game, and it's the spiritual sequel to Bullfrog's never-bettered classic Theme Hospital. Details below, but suffice to say we're really excited about this one.

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Project Hospital developers expect Modders to make it more like Theme Hospital

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As we long suspected, Two Point Hospital is a spiritual successor to Theme Hospital being made by the ex-Bullfrog team at Two Point Studios. You can check out the teaser trailer here which shows that the Bullfrog humour is fully intact, including the introduction of at least one new amusing illness - "Light-Headedness", where the patient's head turns into a lightbulb. It looks very Aardman.

Here's what Co-Founder Gary Carr has to say about Two Point Hospital:

"The amazing team we have managed to bring together, and our partnership with Sega, has really allowed this first part of our vision to finally come to fruition"

Other Co-Founder Mark Webley adds:

"Gary and I have been talking about this project for a number of years and are really excited to be announcing Two Point Studios' first game."

Here's what John Clark, Executive Vice President of Publishing for SEGA Europe, had to say about Two Point and the game:

"We’re delighted to finally announce the fruits of our partnership with Two Point Studios and reveal Two Point Hospital to the world. We’re committed to finding and working with the best new studios, ones that fit with SEGA’s ethos to deliver new IP with strong franchise potential. Two Point Studios’ vision for Two Point Hospital and their ambitions for it fit perfectly with that notion and we look forward to releasing their game later this year."

Two Point Hospital will be released later this year. Hopefully not TOO much later...