A slew of horror (and horror-adjacent) games are in the works for 2020 and beyond. Covering just about every genre, from visual novels to platformers and even isometric RPGs, some of the most anticipated horror video games potentially coming out in 2020 might not be what you think.
It's true that some of these might get delayed and release in 2021 or 2022. But the 15 horror games we've collected look like they have the most potential to release in some form over the next year. Many of the games look like they will knock our socks off and keep us sleeping with the lights on!
Let's take a look and see what's in store for horror fanatics over the next 12 months.
Whatever Horror Game Red Barrels is Working on
DECEMBER UPDATE: Red Barrels has now confirmed the title as The Outlast Trials. Set in the Cold War, it looks to be a co-op horror experience revolving around surviving horrific tests.
The development crew behind the Outlast series began posting ads for new programmers back in April 2019. From that, it's clear something is in the works, either as a follow-up to Outlast 2 or an entirely new project.
With that information, it's entirely possible whatever Red Barrels is working on may not come out by the end of 2020. But we're going to list the project here because we're already excited for the official announcement, which could come by the end of December.
As of this writing, all we have to go on is the image above, which reads, "Where freedom ends." Though it could be a title, the text is most likely a tag line for the project.
Since both of the studio's previous games began with strong religious connotations before taking hard left turns into sci-fi territory, we have to wonder if a similar theme will continue in the next game. We also have to wonder if weapons will finally make it to a Red Barrels game.
Lust From Beyond
Developer: Movie Games Lunarium
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release Date: TBD 2020
The erotic horror sub-genre might be more than just an odd blip on the radar.
A sequel to Lust For Darkness is set to take everything from the first game and make it bigger. Lust From Beyond will have a bigger world, more game mechanics, and the addition of a secondary rival sex cult known as the Scarlet Lodge.
The sneak peak beta we were able to play a few months back showed plenty of scares and deadly extradimensional vaginas. It teased both fully interactive sex scenes and significantly more pornographic imagery than the first game.
Based on what we've seen already, I wonder how on earth this game will stay on Steam. If you missed it when it first came out some months back, the prologue is now free to play on Steam.
Be warned, though: because it's an adult-only game, you have to change your content preferences to be able to see the deplorable game page.
Succubus
Developer: Madmind Studio
Platforms: PC
Release Date: TBD 2020
Let's go ahead and get the other scandalous horror game out of the way. We don't want you thinking we're a hentai site or anything.
Succubus is a spin-off of the controversial Agony, which was set directly in the bowels of Hell itself. Agony was the contemporary of the mythos-focused erotic horror game, Lust For Darkness.
The original Agony stirred not only the anti-nudity crowd, but also backers who felt deceived by Agony's marketing. Scenes were cut from the final product, and large parts of the game were censored before an unrated version was released.
Less a sequel and more a spin-off, Succubus puts players in the role of a demonic priestess out for revenge. Shifting perspective from poor, damned martyr sets Succubus up to be more action packed than Agony, but nonetheless hellish.
Paranoid
Developer: Madmind Studio
Platforms: PC
Release Date: TBD 2020
Some are still steamed about Agony's botched release. Considering what was first delivered, that's understandable. But I'm glad there are indie developers pushing the boundaries of horror, even if the games aren't perfect.
Paranoid, also from MadMind, leaves Hell behind and delves into an 80's-tinged hellhouse dripping with drug-fueled paranoia. From the aesthetic to the presentation, here's a lot of potential in Paranoid. If done right, loss and addiction can be the most gripping terror horror has to offer.
Hopefully, we'll find out next year.
Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2
Developer: Hardsuit Labs
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release Date: TBD 2020
With a hallowed horror classic like Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines, so much could go wrong in a sequel.
While the lovably buggy nonsense of the original game's can be seen as endearing 15 years later, such a launch for Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 won't go over well today.
To say that Hardsuit Labs has a monumental task ahead of them is an understatement. The development team is tasked with capturing the essence of the original while presenting the more polished gameplay modern gamers expect.
Seeking to avoid a rocky launch, the game's release has been pushed back from its original March 2020 window.
Can't wait that long? Coteries of New York, an upcoming adventure game from Draw Distance, is set to release in December. Coteries follows a format similar to that of visual novels, so don't expect anything on the scale of Bloodlines 2.
System Shock Remake
Developer: Nightdive Studios
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release Date: Q1 2020
I suspect I'd be mildly embarrassed if I went back and looked at how many times we've included the System Shock Remake on various "most anticipated games of the coming year" lists. 2016? Check. 2018? Yup, check.
Why have we been eagerly awaiting a full remake of System Shock year after year? Much like Half-Life and Deus Ex, System Shock would great influence other games to come. We directly have it to thank for the Bioshock series.
Unfortunately, like those other classics, it hasn't aged super well. One of the few games to truly deserve a remake, System Shock needs to be played by a new generation.
Want to see where AI run amok and sci-fi mashing with horror really got its start in the PC gaming realm? I'll just note that the game is currently listed on Steam as arriving in 2020, so, we'll see if it happens this time...
The Last Of Us Part 2
Developer: Naughty Dog
Platforms: PlayStation 4
Release Date: May 29, 2020
OK, does The Last of Us Part 2 count as a horror game? TLoU2 has infected zombie-ites using hive intelligence, post-apocalyptic Seraphites getting brutally butchered, and a morbidly dark undertone oozing with dread and terror.
If you didn't cry in horror during the prologue of The Last of Us, then you just flat out aren't human. From what we've seen, you might be able to redeem yourself with TLoU2.
Assuming no more delays impact The Last of Us Part 2, this massively anticipated sequel will release on May 29. It will be exclusively single-player at launch, predominantly focusing on story. Expect some gruesome deaths. And bring along a box of tissues for those tough moral choices.
Dying Light 2
Developer: Techland
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release Date: TBD 2020
Although more action than horror, there's plenty of zombie-slaying mayhem in Dying Light 2. Set to release in spring 2020, Dying Light 2 is shaping up to be something to look forward to. The game will feature choice-based gameplay and a more reactive world than the one found in Dying Light.
A recent 25-minute trailer shows off Dying Light 2's stunning visuals and map design. It's clear there will be different ways to approach missions as you try to keep humanity alive just a little while longer.
Remothered: Broken Porcelain
Developer: Stormind Games
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch
Release Date: TBD 2020
Remothered: Broken Porcelain contains some very clear nods to cult classic Rule Of Rose, a survival horror game released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006. I suspect Broken Porcelain will have an equally disturbing story and terrifyingly similar imagery.
The follow up to Remothered: Tormented Fathers, Broken Porcelain moves the series to an abandoned hotel in the middle of nowhere.
How a classic style in the vein of Rule of Rose will translate to modern gameplay remains to be seen, however. The revival of old-school horror games has been rather hit or miss in recent years.
The unfortunate Clocktower reboot, Nightcry, was slaughtered by negative reviews, while Remothered: Tormented Fathers also had its share of gameplay issues.
If done right, this could be the Silent Hill 2 of a new generation.
The Dark Pictures Little Hope
Developer: Supermassive Games
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release Date: TBD 2020
We don't know much about the next entry in the Dark Pictures anthology series that began with Man Of Medan. Though we know that Little Hope is coming soon, that it takes place in the dark woods, and that there may or may not be witches involved, everything else is a mystery.
Considering Man of Medan had 14 different endings and injected new life into the "interactive movie" sub-genre, it seems like a good bet anyone who loved Until Dawn or similar games will be right at home with Little Hope.
Kingdom Of Night
Developer: Black Seven Studios
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch
Release Date: October 2020
This entry may not be quite what you're expecting based on our other picks. Kingdom Of Night is an isometric pixel-art action RPG dripping with dark atmosphere. KoN also happens to be filled to the brim with demonic enemies.
Serving as a nice counterpoint to the early access title HellSign, Kingdom of the Night's music, art style, and typography all nail the '80s horror aesthetic.
While you are unlikely to scream in terror at any point, it looks like you will have fun hacking apart werewolves, zombies, and other demonic entities with a machete.
Carrion
Developer: Phobia Game Studio
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release Date: TBD 2020
Carrion might appear to be the odd game out in this list, but this "reverse horror" platformer gives horror fans what they've always wanted. In Carrion, you can finally play as the amorphous "Thing" and wreak havoc on the scientists and military personnel trying to keep you from escaping!
Between the reverse platforming mechanics and the extremely bloody trailer, Carrion might end up being the surprise 2D horror hit of the year. Just watch out for those flame throwers!
The Walking Dead: Saints And Sinners
Developer: Skydance Interactive
Platforms: PC
Release Date: January 23, 2020
With a third TV series in the works and several spin-off movies due to arrive soon, there's no doubt The Walking Dead has just about been run into the ground. Forget beating a dead horse. Now we're just beating dead zombies.
So why include The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners on this list? Because Saints and Sinners is a VR game, and we need some more solid horror VR games, pronto!
The gameplay we've seen of Saints and Sinners so far makes interesting use of a backpack mechanic for more immersion, and there seems to be some character customization involved. Of course, the real goods will be in lopping heads off of zombies in the first-person.
The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners is one of the very few 2020 horror games with a firm release date: due to drop on January 23.
Darkest Dungeon 2
Developer: Red Hook Studios
Platforms: PC
Release Date: February 2020
After dealing with rampant vampirism in Darkest Dungeon's The Crimson Court DLC and going mad from a terrible green glow with the Lovecraft-themed Color Of Madness expansion, we're finally going to get a true sequel to Darkest Dungeon!
Sadly, Darkest Dungeon 2 has no release window, so we may not get this one for a few years still. But it seems likely Darkest Dungeon 2 will arrive in Early Access at some point in 2020 to get through the same rigorous balance tweaks the first game saw.
Expect Darkest Dungeon 2 to be gruelingly hard, but with some major tweaks to the combat and town systems to reduce the infamous grind found in Darkest Dungeon.
Hopefully, we'll soon get to contract new terrible diseases and die of fright from massive heart attacks while facing terrors unknown!
Unholy
Developer: Duality Games
Platforms: PC
Release Date: TBD 2020
Unholy is a massive question mark at the moment. The game's visual aesthetic looks amazing (those tentacles coming out of the crib in the trailer are truly chilling). However, I have to wonder if Unholy will end up being similar to Inner Chains, where the art direction took precedence over the gameplay.
Unholy is coming from a new collaboration of developers working on four separate titles. While Unholy could crash and burn, I've got high hopes for a truly horrifying experience, where we play as a mother in search of her abducted child on a dying planet.
That's it for our most anticipated horror video games of 2020! What did you think of our picks, and did we miss any games coming in the next few months that should have made the list?
Sound off in the comments below and let us know what game you think will reign supreme as the best horror title of 2020!
Looking for more horror games to play right now? Don't forget that quite a few already landed this year. Here are some to get you started:
For more, be sure to head over to our other lists showcasing the most anticipated games of 2020:
Published: Nov 26, 2019 01:29 pm