BrokenLore: Don't Lie is out now on Xbox and PC, exploring hikikomori through psychological horror

Serafini Productions has launched BrokenLore: Don't Lie on Xbox Series X|S and PC. The psychological horror game follows Junko, a young hikikomori whose grip on reality begins to fracture as suppressed memories bleed into her present.

Hikikomori — people who withdraw from social life due to psychological or social pressures — sit at the heart of the game's themes. As Junko's familiar surroundings warp into reflections of her past, players must help her confront the people and emotions she has spent years avoiding. The game connects directly to the earlier entry BrokenLore: Don't Watch: Junko and Shinji, that game's protagonist, met at a rehabilitation centre in 2020 while both being treated for psychiatric disorders that eventually led to their isolation. Don't Watch told Shinji's story; Don't Lie tells Junko's. A new character, Miki-chan, introduces another thread — the growing human tendency to turn to AI companions for emotional support and personal advice, a phenomenon studio CEO Sebastiano Serafini says he has watched develop around him. Serafini, who has lived in Japan for many years, says the hikikomori subject drew him in through direct observation of how social withdrawal is discussed and perceived there, though he's clear the issue isn't uniquely Japanese.

Serafini Productions built BrokenLore as a fragmented narrative universe — each game stands alone but rewards players who dig deeper and connect the pieces across entries. Horror is the delivery mechanism, but the studio frames every game around grounded human experiences rather than genre spectacle. Wired Productions and Japanese film company Shochiku are named as partners supporting the series going forward, suggesting the universe has backing to keep expanding beyond these first two entries.

Serafini says there are many more characters, themes, and stories he wants to tell within the BrokenLore universe, and the studio is treating Don't Lie as the beginning rather than a conclusion. No specific release windows for future entries were announced.