For all that we’d like to believe otherwise, there are only so many upcoming horror movies and upcoming horror TV shows to look forward to in any given year, and genre fans will always be hungry for more. Thankfully, freaky storytelling and haunting creatures aren’t limited to just those two mediums, and the world of horror video games continues to expand, with tons of great horror games released yearly. That pattern won’t be changing during the back half of 2024 and beyond.
From highly anticipated sequels to bestselling hits to universe-expanding spinoffs of popular movie franchises to a new release from one of video games’ most unique creators, the future is bright with fright-filled fun for gamers. So without further ado, let’s set our preferred camera angles and dive into all the upcoming horror games we’re most excited about.
Five Nights at Freddy's: Into The Pit (August 8, 2024)
A project meant to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Scott Cawthon’s original Five Nights at Freddy’s game release, Mega Cat Studios’ FNAF: Into the Pit is the first in the franchise to fully take on a 2D approach with pixel art, and is an adaptation of the novella trilogy serving as the first volume of Fazbear Frights. The story follows a kid named Oswald who travels back to the past via pizzeria ball pit, and fights to save both timelines from a certain dangerous animatronic.
Silent Hill 2 (October 8, 2024)
One of the pioneer horror video game franchises is making a killer comeback with multiple releases on the way, as well as the upcoming film sequel Return to Silent Hill from director Christophe Gans. Silent Hill 2 will be a top to bottom remaster of the original PlayStation game, with Bloober Team taking on development duties alongside Konami, with some of the original creative team returning. It will seemingly be a faithful revision, as the O.G. contributors’ suggestions for changes were turned down by the new squad (via Fumitsu).
Phasmophobia (October 2024)
The spooky ghost-hunting simulation game Phasmophobia has technically been playable on PC since its Early Access mode debuted in September 2020, but its finalized console release is finally set to arrive in time for Halloween 2024. (Pending the horror of further delays.) Essentially a playable iteration of the least annoying ghost-hunting TV show, Phasmophobia gives gamers a varied assortment of locations to test for paranormal activity, with a host of tools and tech to find and track the different types of specters. Add in the sanity meter and VR mode, and it’s a can’t miss for genre buffs.
Alan Wake 2: The Lake House DLC (October 2024)
While not a full-on release, this DLC made the cut due to Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake 2 being one of the most unpredictable and gloriously mind-boggling horror games of all time. The first DLC release, a trio of Night Springs-inspired one-off adventures, dropped in June 2024, while the second will focus more on the lore surrounding Cauldron Lake. Titled The Lake House, which is an area of the main game that wasn’t previously accessible, the new story will focus on a secret government facility on the lake’s shores where something terribly wrong went down.
A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead (Late 2024)
The fourth entry in the horror franchise first developed in part by John Krasinski, A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead is another standalone story similar to the prequel spinoff A Quiet Place: Day One that released in June 2024. It will follow Anairis Quiñones’ asthmatic college student Alex Taylor and her boyfriend Martin (Aleks Le) trying to survive against post-apocalyptic alien threats. Though not many details have been revealed about the story, the first trailers released so far look pretty great, and showcase a microphone mechanic that gamers will utilize to keep the noise down.
Bye Sweet Carole (TBA 2024)
Created by Remothered’s Chris Darril, the narrative-driven horror Bye Sweet Carole shares a visual aesthetic with Disney’s classic hand-animated features that inspired it. The 1900s-set story takes place at the mysterious Bunny Hall orphanage, where Lana Benton doesn’t believe the stories that her BFF Carole ran away, and uncovers another world beyond our own in trying to find her. This legitimately looks like Nightmare Before Christmas subject matter and tone through the prism of Snow White.
John Carpenter's Toxic Commando (TBA 2024)
Filmmaker John Carpenter made a career out of creating fan-favorite cult classic movies, and brought those skills to his love of video games for some over-the-top gore and mayhem in the form of John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando. Whether in first-person shooter or co-op mode, players will take charge of a commando with a widespread assortment of weapons at their disposal, in the hopes of taking down a plethora of undead creatures birthed by the Sludge Lord, a science experiment gone evil. This thing already needs a movie adaptation.
The Lost Wild (TBA 2024/2025)
Al horror game like no other, the first-person survival adventure The Lost Wild essentially looks like it’ll be the best version of a Jurassic Park video game, with players taking on a character who finds themselves in the middle of a dinosaur-filled setting. This is no mere trip back in time, though, as there are several abandoned facilities that will help players piece together what went down, while also offering temporary respite from the curious and potentially deadly threats outside. Not all of the dino-beasts are necessarily threats, however, which can factor into how the game is approached. If only there was also a faux Dr. Ian Malcolm to look forward to.
Tenebris Somnia (TBA 2025)
A bonkers mix of pixel-perfect 8-bit graphics and full-motion video, Tenebris Somnia centers on a woman plagued by nightmares in which her ex-boyfriend is murdered by gross-looking creatures. After she’s unable to confirm his safety in her waking life, she goes back to check on him at the apartment they once shared, and that appears to be when all manner of weirdness breaks loose. The transition between live-action and game design seems like it’ll make for some unique jolts, and the make-up effects thankfully look high-quality enough to be genuinely haunting.
Little Nightmares III (TBA 2025)
The sequel to a pair of best-selling and critically acclaimed horror darlings from Bandai Namco, Little Nightmares III will take players back to The Nowhere with a pair of new youths, Low and Alone, making this the first co-op of the series. As well, this is the first L.N. game to be developed by Supermassive Games, which has produced the “decisions matter” games in the Dark Pictures Anthology, as well as the standalone throwback horror The Quarry. So even if the branching story elements aren’t in the mix, there will likely be a few more unique gameplay mechanics to look forward to.
Deep Cuts (TBA 2025)
From the Scythe Dev Team that created the cult hit Happy's Humble Burger Farm, the upcoming VR adventure Deep Cuts exists in the same universe, but moves the action to a film studio where movies come alive. More specifically, gamers will play as Elise Weber as she attempts to track down her missing BFF and creative partner by searching through the catalog of movies they produced by going into them, allowing for a range of destructive chaos as Elise comes to blows with a deadly and deranged group of cartoon characters.
Hideo Kojima's OD (TBA)
The genius and ever-divisive game mastermind Hideo Kojima is turning his bizarro modern epic Death Stranding into a movie, but when it comes to interactive entertainment, the writer/director is next set to deliver the completely mysterious horror game known simply as OD (short for overdose). While little is known about the game beyond a hospital and patients playing into it, we’re pumped that Jordan Peele helped co-write the game with Kojima, and that it stars I Am Not Okay with This’ Sophia Lillis, Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer, and Iron Sky’s Udo Kier.
Silent Hill F (TBA)
The world of Silent Hill is heading to a completely different location for the game series’ ninth entry, Silent Hill F. Developed by NeoBards Entertainment, this sequel will shift the action back in time to the 1960s, and across the planet to rural Japan. The country’s culture has been at the heart of highly unsettling games for decades now, so it can hopefully only get more psychologically unnerving when put through the Konami franchise’s prism. Here’s hoping more details are revealed sooner than later.
The Casting of Frank Stone (TBA)
Set in the fictional universe of Dead by Daylight, The Casting of Frank Stone won’t be a pvp game, but rather an interactive narrative developed by Supermassive Games, the team behind The Quarry and other branching storyline games. Set in 1980 within the Oregon town of Cedar Hills, the game centers on four victims, er, filmmakers whose goal is to film at an abandoned steel mill, all while the hyper-deadly Frank Stone hunts them down. The titular villain’s legacy and past generations will also be explored through the story, adding new context to a franchise that has thrived thanks to playable licensed horror characters from projects such as Stranger Things, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser and many more.
Clock Tower Rewind (TBA)
Many horror gamers have never had a properly official chance to play the 1995 classic Clock Tower, as it’s never been released outside of Japan. But that changes with the completely remastered and enhanced Clock Tower: Rewind, which puts players back in the shoes of orphan teen Jennifer within the Barrows family mansion, where secrets, items and the dreaded Scissorman may be hiding around every corner. While the O.G. version will be available to play, the enhanced mode features new animations, music, cut-scenes, artwork and more.
Paranormal Tales (TBA)
While it may look like an upcoming entry in the V/H/S anthology series, Digital Cybercherries’ Paranormal Tales is a game that’s wholly inspired by the found-footage subgenre, and the player’s P.O.V. comes entirely through body-cam footage, which has a distinct aesthetic compared to traditional FPS games. Gamers will ostensibly be “playing” the doomed footage, so it will be interesting to see how much of the action is predetermined, and how much can be changed as each story progresses.
Project M (TBA)
Bloober Team, the acclaimed company behind Blair Witch, Layers of Fear and The Observer (among others) revealed in early July 2024 that it’s developing a horror game currently dubbed Project M that’ll be a Nintendo Switch exclusive. Even without knowing any other details, that’s exciting enough for it to make this list. It reportedly won’t be on the same scale as past releases, but will be a very important title nonetheless. One can only hope that means one or more of Nintendo’s core characters will take on a freaky adventure.
Silent Hill: Townfall (TBA)
Part of the impetus behind expanding the Silent Hill universe was Konami giving different developers the keys to the kingdom, as it were, to give fans a variety of experiences. The spinoff Silent Hill: Townfall could definitely be a franchise standout, with Annapurna Interactive teaming with NoCode Studio for a story that’s possibly set near an ocean, if the initial teaser footage is an indication. Annapurna has produced too many winners to name, while NoCode developed two of my favorite genre games of the past decade, Stories Beyond and Observation.
