14 new best Upcoming horror games for 2024 and beyond

 

14 new best Upcoming horror games for 2024 and beyond

These upcoming horror games have scary reputations to live up to. 2024 has seen a modest showing from the genre as yet, with Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 being one of the latest video game scare-'em-ups for us to dig into. But with plenty of new games for 2024 still in the works, Senua is sure to be in good company.

We're especially intrigued by Japanese body horror Slitterhead, Bloober Team's upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake, and an unnerving upcoming horror game "experience" from Hideo Kojima named OD. The home of horror cinema, Blumhouse Pictures, has also announced its brand new indie games publishing division. We'll be keeping you posted on the goings-on there.

1 - Terror: Endless Night

Developer: Unseen Silence
Platform(s): PC

You’ll want to put an extra pair of socks on for this one, especially if you’ve already watched the first season of The Terror. This strategic survival stressfest isn’t officially affiliated in any way but in Terror: Endless Night we’re tasked with managing a crew aboard a 19th century ship hunting down the missing HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. As we too become trapped in the grip of the ice we’ll have to contend with sickness, fuel, starvation, and choose between life and death for the crew. Sadly, those socks probably aren’t going to keep your sanity in check as reality starts to crumble under the stress of it all. Enjoy? 

2 - Routine

Developer: Lunar Software 
Platform(s): Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC

We're used to long wait times for games after announcements but it's been ten years since sci-fi horror Routine was originally revealed. The re-reveal trailer shows an atmospheric abandoned lunar base of flickering lights and juddering robotic monstrosities. Everything looks pleasingly analogue too as weaponry clicks and clacks into place. Hopefully we don't have to wait another ten years for release but at least we know it will arrive on day one through Game Pass on Xbox Series X and Xbox One. 

3 - Silent Hill f 

Developer: Neobards Entertainment

Silent Hill games are definitely like buses full of pyramid heads. You wait 8 years and then three come along at once. Silent Hill f was also announced as part of the Silent Hill: Transmission stream and is another intriguing prospect. The trailer follows a young woman through a city as a strange red War of the Worlds-style weed starts to devour everything. All we’ve got to go on is the official description which says that Silent Hill f is “a completely new story set in 1960s Japan featuring a beautiful, yet horrifying world.

4 - Silent Hill Townfall 

Developer: No Code

As part of the bumper Silent Hill: Transmission stream, Silent Hill: Townfall was announced as a brand new addition to the series. If you enjoyed the creeping delights of Stories Untold and Observation then you’ll be pleased to know that Glasgow based dev studio No Code are working on this fresh slice of the franchise. The trailer teasingly didn’t give much away with a man talking over shots of a small pocket television with discussions of punishment and judgement. “It's a real honour for us to bring a new title to this series that both respects the source material, but also does something a little bit different with it,” creative director Jon McKellan said on the stream. This could be very interesting indeed.  

5 - OD

Developer: Kojima Productions
Platform(s): Xbox Series X, PC

It wouldn't be a Kojima project if it weren't shrouded in mystery, now, would it? A collaboration between ex-Konami developer Hideo Kojima, Xbox Game Studios, and even Jordan Peele, OD is an upcoming horror game that looks less like a game and more like an experience. The brief look we got at OD during The Game Awards 2023 shows it to be suitably creepy and weird, and with A-list talent like Euphoria's Hunter Schaffer on deck, we'll just have to sit tight and wait for more info on this one.

6 - Little Nightmares 3

Developer: Supermassive Games
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC
Release date:  2025

This spooky platformer series is getting a third instalment in Little Nightmares 3. We'll be accompanying two new mini-heroes, Low and Alone, as they navigate the treacherous world of Necropolis and beyond. LN3 will be the first game in the series to be developed solely by Supermassive Games since past co-developer Tarsier Studios moved on to other projects. With Supermassive being the mind behind some of the scariest interactive horror titles ever, we can't wait to see how the Dark Pictures Anthology studio brings its unique brand of chills and thrills to the series.

7 - ILL

Developer: Team Clout 
Platform(s): PC
Release date: TBC 

Revealed at the Future Games Show in 2022, ILL is an ultra gory survival horror with its bloodshot eyes focussed on pure dismemberment. The monsters here are mutated and tentacled creations all intent on making sure that the last thing you see is a collection of flesh so twisted you don't even really know what killed you. Even more disturbing, is the fact that you're hardly going to have any ammo so you're going to have to get smart about when to engage or when to just hurtle away in the other direction.

8 - darkwebSTREAMER

Developer: We Have Always Lived In The Forest
Platform(s): PC

This upcoming horror game is a special one. Game director Chantal Ryan describes darkwebSTREAMER as a psychological horror RPG meets "narrative roguelike", and though it might look like deeply harrowing exploration of the endless secrets and mysteries of the deepest parts of the World Wide Web, it's also a deeply incisive comment on society, social media, and all the wicked things that go bump in our hearts. There's no sign of a release date yet, but the development of this compulsively-replayable narrative experience is one to watch if you're looking for an indie horror game that promises to do something wildly different, both to the genre and to you as the player.

9 - Zoochosis

Developer: Clapperheads
Platform(s): PC
Release date: TBC 2024

If you've ever wanted to be a zookeeper working around some terrifying mutated beasts, you're in luck. Zoochosis is a first person upcoming horror game from Clapperheads that pits you against a mutating parasite that risks spreading across your flock. The reveal trailer shows our protagonist going toe to hoof with some truly gross-looking monsters, from giraffes sprouting giant scuttling spider legs to something with alarmingly long, pink fingers. It's set to launch later in 2024, so keep an eye out for this grisly terror as the year goes on.

10 - Until Dawn remake

Developer: Ballistic Moon
Platform(s): PS5, PC
Release date: Fall 2024

One of the best PS4 games is getting not just a simple remaster, but a totally rebuilt remake in Until Dawn. Crafted in Unreal Enging 5 for the higher-specs likes of the PS5 and the more turbo-charged gaming PCS out there, this terrifying choice-led adventure is slated to launch sometime this Fall following its announcement at a Sony State of Play in late January 2024. The original Until Dawn still stands up as one of the most thrilling, high-octane PS4 games to date, with player choice taking a front seat as every twist and turn you take seals the fate of your main characters. This is one for the Dark Pictures Anthology fans out there to add to their wishlists if you missed out on it back in 2016. Returning fans will still find plenty to love in this enhanced version, from a reworked soundscape, third-person camera angle, and brand new content to "expand upon unexplored emotional parts of the story

11 - The Casting of Frank Stone

Developer: Supermassive Games
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X
Release date: TBC 2024

The team behind asymmetrical horror game Dead by Daylight is working with upcoming Little Nightmares 3 developer Supermassive Games to create a "brand new single-player interactive story game". Set in the same universe as Behaviour Interactive's DBD, The Casting of Frank Stone looks set to be a choice-driven narrative adventure that combines the lore of the multiplayer game with Supermassive's signature branching horror gameplay. A recent story trailer has revealed the game's setting amid the production of an 80s slasher-style horror movie, meaning we can probably expect plenty of loving genre-nods to the classics as per Supermassive's own Dark Pictures Anthology series. We also know that The Casting of Frank Stone will feature an entirely new cast of characters to the ones seen in Behaviour's horror asym, meaning fresh Killer and Survivor lore could be in store. Who knows, maybe Frank et al will make it to the mainline game itself someday?

12 - Paranormal Tales 

Developer: Digital Cybercherries
Platform(s): PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PC
Release date: TBC 2024

Of all of the horror subgenres, found footage crawls under your skin in a very specific way. On the surface, our brains know that this is fiction but the shaky handheld footage from phones or even body cams demands to be taken seriously as a threat. Cue Paranormal Tales, a terrifying looking Unreal Engine 5 creation that lets us play various found footage files, encouraging us to explore further into the dark to discover what happened to those who were foolish enough to start hitting record. Expect plenty of movie-influenced jump scares and figures lurking in corners. You didn’t even see the one in the screenshot above, did you..?  

13 - Hollowbody

Developer: Headware Games
Platform(s): PC
Release date: TBC 2024 

Ready for a tech-noir love letter to the horror of the classic Silent Hill games? Well the fact that lone developer Nathan Hamley managed to drum up £27K of support on Kickstarter for this survival horror is proof that lots of people definitely are. In Hollowbody, we play as Mica, a so-called Shipper working illegally in a terrifying dystopian Exclusion Zone. She ends up trapped, leaving us to help her escape the horrors with limited resources and, yes, you guessed it, fixed camera angles. Hamley promises logic puzzles, multiple endings and a strong focus on narrative and exploration. You go first, we’ll be right behind you

14 - Silent Hill 2 Remake 

Developer: Bloober Team
Platform(s): PS5, PC
Release date: October 8, 2024

Konami's most beloved entrant in the Silent Hill franchise is getting a modern day makeover. Silent Hill 2 is in the works from Layers of Fear developer Bloober Team, bringing James Sunderland's haunting tale back to PC and PS5 for fans old and new to experience the nightmare "as never before", according to the publisher. We've been treated to a few trailers and a lengthy gameplay demo so far, giving us a closer look at the third person shooter perspective we'll be swapping our fixed camera angles and tank controls for when the game launches in October. With the bubble head nurses and Pyramidhead sure to make a comeback, it's so far ticking all the nostalgia boxes for me in terms of tone, style, and throwback familiarity. Whether I agree with Maria's wardrobe change, though...no comment.