Amnesia: Rebirth ARG
| Amnesia: Rebirth ARG | |
|---|---|
| Type | Official |
| Creator | Frictional Games |
| Discovered | 2020-01-23 |
| Completed | 2020-03-06 |
List of Investigations > Amnesia: Rebirth ARG
The Amnesia: Rebirth ARG was an official ARG created to reveal and promote Amnesia: Rebirth, created by Frictional Games'. The game was initially teased under the title Secret Project #1. The ARG took place on the Next Frictional Game website, and involved finding YouTube video IDs by solving puzzles hidden within the site.
Background
On December 10, 2019, a one-second video of a growing embryo was uploaded to https://nextfrictionalgame.com/, a website that Frictional Games had historically used to promote their upcoming projects. Throughout the next several months, new videos were sporadically uploaded to the site.[1] As new videos were uploaded, the previous videos were deleted. Each video was named after the date it was posted, following the format MMDD.[2]
Update 1
On January 23, 2020, the website was updated with the first clue for the ARG: a new "eye" icon next to the existing social media icons.[3] Hovering over the icon revealed a YouTube video ID suWaF-aIdV4, which led to a video named Box 52, Tape 16.
By inspecting the HTML of the site, another YouTube video ID pBW3V85Y-I4 was found in a <meta> element with the name artefact. The ID led to a video named Box 7 Reel 2, Partial Success.
-
The "eye" icon with its hover text -
The added HTML element
Box 52, Tape 16
The video shows a collection of rocks near a body of water, and then zooms in on a rock with peculiar symbols craved on it.[4] The description of the video reads:
Video Cassette 16/2/83, copy from a private collection. Marked Shetpe, KSSR.
The acronym "KSSR" refers to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, now Kazakhstan.
Box 7 Reel 2, Partial Success
Nothing can be seen in the video, but three monstrous screams can be heard.[5] The description of the video reads:
Artefact 1/7/115, marked "Triple Crown". Video unrecoverable, Audio track fragment reconstructed, denoised.
Update 2
On January 29, 2020, hidden text was added to https://nextfrictionalgame.com.[6] The text could be made visible by highlighting the lower part of the website. It read:
Exxpedition: frrequenncy oof raddioo 78.3 short WWave seQQuence
The duplicated letters in this phrase, combined with the numbers, created the string xrnodo783WQ: a valid YouTube video ID that led to the video Box 12, Recent Acquisitions.
Box 12, Recent Acquisitions
In the video, a person opens an ammunition box and briefly looks at a note before the video abruptly ends.[7] The note reads:
There is an itching behind my eyes as if a beetle burrows there in the gold of my brain, boring its way in, mandibles clawing at grey matter as if a gnarled finger has been pushed into my skill, a broken fingernail working into my thoughts. I want to reach in with a needle to scratch it or perhaps a piece of wire through the tear duct, threading through the lacrimal canal. Threadlike black worms squirm in my eye. When I think about them they are agitated and start to trash around. They know I am scared and it makes them worse. If I hold myself still, if I ease my mind, if I empty my head and try not to be afraid of [...] then the itching fades to the tickling of a feather. I've tried filling myself with the notes of a song or the colours of a beautiful picture, but it doesn't work. Only emptiness gives me any [...] I wish I had my gun.
The description of the video reads:
Recovered 12/5/2018, via source S576a. Salzburg, site TBD. Document retrieval failed, investigation commissioned.
Update 3
On February 4, 2020, a new element was added to the website's HTML, named transmission. By adding /transmission to the site's URL, hosted a file. After a .wav extension was added to the filename, the file could be played. It contained audio that resembled Morse code, which translated to:
V0FFI3DDMXXWH4
Converting the doubled letters into single uppercase letters and the single letters into lowercase letters, created the string v0Fi3DmXwh4: a valid YouTube video ID that led to the video Box 11, recent acquisitions.
Box 11, recent acquisitions
The person in the video is seen operating a short wave radio, which plays an ominous sound of a person singing the song "See Saw Margery Daw".[8]
The description of the video reads:
Recovered 3/3/2017, website acquisition. Private workshop, Saint-Denis, Paris. Cover note: "Qu'avec cette vieille radio et qu'en cet endroit précis."
The "cover note" can be translated from French into English:
Only with this old radio and in this specific place.
Update 4
On 13/02/2020, a new button named Press Kit was added to the site.
The button lead to a google drive folder, which contains sub-folders for each of Frictional's games.
Inside the unannounced folder, another folder was found, which contains 11 image files. The name of each file is made of one letter.
The images were placed together and formed an incomplete image.
The names of each photo were put together from top-left to bottom-right, and resulted in: 1KaDkmxsvTo, which is the YouTube ID for the video Box 12, Recent Acquisitions (Card 3)
Box 12, Recent Acquisitions (Card 3)
The video takes place in Algeciras, Spain, in an ex-warehouse, previously owned by different people.
The person in the video wears a bracelet with a black feather on it, suggesting it is the same person from Box 12, Recent Acquisitions.
This events in this video take place two months after Box 12, Recent Acquisitions.
A Twanas-looking artifact made of sticks with feathers can be seen.
A golden ring is located inside the artifact, with symbols craved on it.
Too much light is reflected from the ring to get a good look at the symbols.
Update 5
On 20/02/2020, a new entry appeared in the HTML code:
// Kifpd kmxdzs rwxszr xe f rbkrwfspz bsdsxls // Woz fsxnfiv uxzr sxw itz ts woz covrtpfi exmn // Kzvxsu rtjow, woz itszr xe woz lxmiu wltrw flfv emxn zhbtitkmtbn fsu fmz mzrofczu // Tw tr f wzfm ts woz gzti // Lofw itzr kzvxsu? // Tr wotr lofw kzpfnz xe Pfrrfsumf? // ztjowstszvwufroztjowztjowMogH
Using the substitution cipher rules, the text was deciphered and revealed the following message:
Black broken stones of a substance unknown The anomaly does not lie in the physical form Beyond sight,the lines of the world twist and are reshaped It is a tear in the veil What lies beyond? Is this what became of Cassandra? eight nine yt dash eight eight RhvQ
Cassandra is a reference to the character from the Greek mythology.
The YouTube ID is:
eight nine yt dash eight eight RhvQ -> 89yt-88RhvQ which led to the video Box 11, Recent Acquisitions (Card 15).
Box 11, Recent Acquisitions (Card 15)
The video shows a person walking with a compass towards the "black broken stones of a substance unknown" from the cryptic message.
When they reach near the black stones, the compass starts to show anomalous behavior, and the video feed cuts.
Update 6
On 28/02/2020, 11 letters and symbols were scattered across the internet, mainly in Frictional's social media sites:
1~ - From FG's twitter banner.
A* - From a FG forum thread.
K§ - From description of Card 15 video which was updated.
y^ - From Tumblr post.
I$ - From FG's linked-in page.
j= - From Grip's desk.
Y@ - From FG's instagram post.
l# - From Frictional Games facebook post.
c/ - From c.png in press kit google drive
F! - Found in the Press Kit page in FG's site.
o% - From FG's twitter bio.
In addition, a new entry appeared in the HTML code, which consists of 11 lines short story.
The letters were matched with the sentences by associating the meaning of the sentences to the symbols attached to the letters. The result was:
The rise and fall of dunes, the waves of a waterless sea - 1~ A single star burns in the void; below it is nothing but dust - A* Two lizards dance in the heat, writhing across the sand - K§ A tower pierces the sky; an impossible point of ascent - y^ To plunder the earth for gold, then realise your coin has no worth - I$ To travel a well-trodden road, then find yourself pathless and lost - j= To gaze at a circle of glass, to discover a world lies within - Y@ Life is the simplest of games, a game it seems no-one can win - l# The veil is split in two, - c/ The fear gives rise to rage, - F! A hundred lives from now, all this will be memory, lost in the desert. - o%
Combining the letters in order from top to bottom, results in the YouTube ID 1AKyIjYlcFo, which led to the video "i am Tasi"
"I am Tasi"
This is the first video that provides in-game footage.
It the protagonist of the game is called Tasi, a seemingly middle-eastern female. Tasi is looking for someone.
Tasi experiences something anomalous which makes her to reassure herself she is in fact still her, and not something else.
Game Reveal
On 06/03/2020, The ARG ended and Frictional Games revealed their new title - Amnesia: Rebirth.
References
- ↑ Frictional Games. Website Clips. Accessed December 1, 2025.
- ↑ Amnesia: Rebirth - Analysis / Theories / ARG document. Accessed December 1, 2025.
- ↑ Next Frictional Game. Archived January 30, 2020 from the original.
- ↑ Frictional Games [@frictionalgames] (March 3, 2020). Box 52, Tape 16 (YouTube video).
- ↑ Frictional Games [@frictionalgames] (March 3, 2020). Box 7 Reel 2, Partial Success (YouTube video).
- ↑ Next Frictional Game. Archived January 30, 2020 from the original.
- ↑ Frictional Games [@frictionalgames] (March 3, 2020). Box 12, Recent Acquisitions (YouTube video).
- ↑ Frictional Games [@frictionalgames] (March 5, 2020). [1] (YouTube video).