Midnight Ghost Hunt beta weekend kicks off this month

Midnight Ghost Hunt, a new 4v4 hide-and-seek horror game from the publisher behind Valheim, is getting another beta round for you to check out ahead of launch.

Midnight Ghost Hunt made its debut back at E3 2019, but aside from a pair of very limited-time betas, we haven't seen much from publisher Coffee Stain since. Today, it was announced that a new closed beta is taking place from Friday, January 28 through Sunday, January 30. There's still no release date yet - though Coffee Stain says it'll launch into early access this year - so this could be your last chance to play the game for a long while. Sign up to request access here.

In case you haven't heard of it, Midnight Ghost Hunt is kind of like the wackier, more chaotic offspring of Phasmophobia and Dead by Daylight, pitting teams of ghosts against teams of ghost hunters in fast-paced battles. The first half of each round tasks ghosts with hiding from hunters by possessing everyday objects like chairs, lamps, and so on. But when the Witching Hour kicks off at midnight, the tables are turned as ghosts become supercharged ghost hunter hunters.

Different maps; like the abandoned theater, haunted mansion, and cursed pirate ship; have unique props for you to possess. In a play session for an upcoming preview, we got to try out the museum map and take control of pots, model planets, the head of a t-rex, and a knight statue. We also learned the hard way not to get too comfortable possessing and disguising yourself as any one object, as the hunters will soon pick you up on their radar. But even if you die, you get to hang around and haunt the hunters with an AoE skill that slows them down for a few seconds.

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.