When it comes to new horror games, there are periods of feast and famine, and last year we gorged ourselves until our bellies bulged and our mouths dripped with juice. horrible fat. In 2024, we received a rich lineup of dark experiences from solo creators, indie teams, AA developers, and AAA studios across a wide range of genres and visual styles. There was a fantastic Silent Hill 2 robust remakes and updates of contemporary classics like Phasmophobia, Alan Wake 2 And The Outlast eventsand there was also a steady cadence of brand new horror franchises expanding the genre in unexpected ways.
First, let’s take a moment to celebrate a sampling of the year’s new horror universes. In 2024, we obtained the following new titles:
This isn’t a complete list of new horror franchises in 2024, but it’s a fitting demonstration of the breadth and diversity of offerings this year. Independent studios are leading the charge when it comes to new ideas and original mechanics, of coursebut there are also plenty of references to early 2000s graphics and survival horror from the PS1 or PS2 era on this list. The combination of innovation and nostalgia is particularly powerful in titles like Fear the spotlight, Raven Country, Mouthwash And Hollow body. These games infuse blocky 3D worlds with modern sensibilities and fluid animations, resulting in experiences that illuminate the static memories of resident Evil And silent Hill that hides in our heads. This is how we wanted these games to feel, fixed camera angles be damned – or, in the case of Hollow bodykissed with love.
It should also be noted that Fear the spotlight marks the debut of famous horror film director Blumhouse as a video game publisher. Fear the spotlight is the first release in the Blumhouse range – which includes future titles from THE EXTERNAL EYESHalf Mermaid, Perfect Garbage, Playmestudio and Vermila Studios – and it’s a great exploration of low-fi teen drama and fright. The horror gaming revolution is upon us and Blumhouse is absolutely going to take a piece of it.
Perhaps the least horrific game on the list above is Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddessand it also happens to be the only title from a AAA studio. I included it because, as a devoted fan of horror games, I think Kunitsu Gami ticks a lot of boxes: it features huge, disgusting demons and a deadly plague that envelops entire cities in skeletal but strangely juicy organic matter. Its monster designs feature colorful displays of lust and body horror, and there’s comfort in its tense strategy-action gameplay loop. Kunitsu Gami wasn’t marketed as a horror experience, and it certainly contains as many scenes of stunning beauty as it does grotesques, but I heartily recommend it to any horror fan. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
INDIKA is another entry straddling the genres of horror, campy, and religious satire, but it certainly features some scenes of harrowing terror. Plus, the literal devil is your friendly companion throughout the game, and that has to count for something. Among scenes of sorrow, inhumanity and devastation, INDIKA is a laugh riot, and it’s a preeminent example of mature themes handled well in video game form. Another highlight of 2024 is that of Simogo. Lorelei and the laser eyes. It’s got some incredibly satisfying logic puzzles set in a hotel full of mysteries – but ghosts haunt the hallways, there’s a dead body in the back garden, and every scene drips with palpable unease. Lorelei and the laser eyes is one of the best and most disturbing games of the year, period.
Always awakens the depthsmeanwhile, offers a familiar and beautiful brand of monster-hunting horror on an oil rig in the middle of the angry North Sea. This is a must-have game for any horror fan, serving as a vehicle for The Chinese Room to showcase its skills in building authentic worlds and cultivating relentless tension with a paranormal twist. Plus, it’s one of the best-looking games I’ve played on PS5 all year. Head cut off is another one for action-horror gamers, featuring a supernatural mystery in a body-snatching demon-infested version of Hong Kong, complete with buckets of blood and frenetic close-quarters combat.
The year started with the release of Home Safety Helplinea simulation of a 1990s call center where players help diagnose and treat household pests, which include otherworldly threats like Bedtooth, Fae Flu, Horde, Gnome of Laundry, Mirror Nymph, Toilet Hobb, Unicorn Mushrooms and others. Home Safety Helpline was truly the amuse-bouche of 2024’s horror game lineup – and Mouthwash it’s dessert.
All the children of horror today we play Mouthwasha first-person polygonal adventure through a stranded spaceship filled with doomed crew members who are gradually losing their minds, overseen by a mutilated captain with a maniacal, bandaged grin. Mouthwash is eerie and claustrophobic, and it’s a fabulous way to end the year in horror games.
But we haven’t even talked about existing franchises yet. THE Silent Hill 2 remake of Bloober Team, the Polish workshop behind layers of fear and Blair Witchwas a brilliant success, even against the demanding standards of longtime fans of the series. The remake looks like the game players remember, only glossy and smoothed out, and Silent Hill 2 remains just as terrifying in 2024 as it initially was in 2001. Maybe even more so. Team Bloober had a lot to prove with this one, and they made old millennial horror gamers proud.
Alan wakes up 2 was one of the best games of 2023, horror or otherwise, and it received two important batches of DLC this year: Nocturnal springs landed in June and The Lake House was put online in October. Each piece of content not only keeps the hellish world of Alan Wake alive, but adds depth to the multi-franchise universe that Remedy is building between Control and Alan Wake. Personally, I always want more Alan Wake, and in that regard, 2024 did not disappoint.
Two live independent games, The Outlast events And Phasmophobiahas also seen major updates over the past 12 months. After entering Early Access in May 2023, The Outlast events studio Red Barrels has been working to establish a solid cadence of new content, and this year they’ve really gotten into the groove. The Outlast events launched in full in March 2024 and has received several updates since then, introducing new enemies, maps, game modes, and limited-time events for players trapped in the Murkoff Corporation’s secret Sinyala facility. The amount of work that Red Barrels invests in The Outlast events is endlessly impressive, especially considering there are only around 65 developers in the studio.
Phasmophobia has an even smaller team than Red Barrels, but they’re making big moves. The team from the British studio Kinetic Games has retained Phasmophobia alive since its launch on Steam in September 2020, and this year they finally brought the ghost hunting game to consoles. Phasmophobia hit PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on October 29, and it also came to PS VR2. Kinetic Games has big plans to continue supporting and developing Phasmophobia in 2025 and beyond, so even though the console’s release came four years after launch, it’s really just the beginning.
There it is – our humble ode to horror gaming in 2024. It’s been a dozen months of indie innovation and gorgeous gore, with an accompaniment of fabulous remakes and significant updates. Some new horror games push the boundaries of the genre, expanding our ideas of what’s scary and why, while others find new ways to dissect classic tropes. It’s all about modern cuisine and comfort food, and on my plate there’s plenty of room for both.
