We finally have a release date for The Outlast Trials - May 18, 2023.
The Outlast Trials debuted its very first gameplay trailer way back in 2021, but missed its initial 2022 release window. And now it seems that the co-operative four-player horror adventure won't be released in full this May, either, but will instead launch into early access in the first instance.
Red Barrels' co-founder Philippe Morin confirmed that the data gathered during last Halloween's beta test provided some "insightful feedback and very interesting data", which the team has used to "improve the experience".
"The Closed Beta was just a taste of what’s to come in The Outlast Trials,” Morin teased. "Our first round of willing participants to take part in the trials provided us with some insightful feedback and very interesting data, which we have used to improve the experience."
"Red Barrels invites you to experience mind-numbing terror, this time with friends," teases the video blurb. "Whether you go through the trials alone or in teams, if you survive long enough and complete the therapy, Murkoff will happily let you leave… but will you be the same?
"In a world of distrust, fear, and violence, your morals will be challenged, your endurance tested, and your sanity crushed. All in the name of progress, science, and profit."
"In The Outlast Trials, I've been gagged and dragged into a dirty operating theater. To my right, a man with lacerated limbs whimpers at the hands of a doctor crushing his skull," Joe wrote when he sampled the game during a limited closed beta back in October.
"To my left, a surgeon cuts open another screaming patient with a circular saw. Ahead, a nurse approaches, tells me the Murkoff Corporation has obtained my public and private records, and demands that I consent to the company's surveillance as she injects a strange brown liquid straight into my eye. The nurse is then joined by a helper, whose apron looks better suited to an abattoir than a hospital, and the pair drill through my skull, forcibly securing a rusted night vision headset onto my face.
"Whether you're keen on the horror genre or not, you'll know within the first five minutes of The Outlast Trials if this game is for you."
Keep up to date with all the best games set to launch later this year with our guide to new games 2023.
