Now The Outlast Trials is out for real on Steam and the Epic Games Store, developer Red Barrels has given us a glimpse into the future of the co-op horror game. Offering a different, more in-your-face spin on the format than the likes of Phasmophobia and Lethal Company, the launch of The Outlast Trials 1.0 has seen it holding an impressive 93% Steam rating from almost 40,000 user reviews, and now we’ve got a firm look at what’s to come as we move towards The Outlast Trials Season 1.
A chaotic multiplayer twist on some of the scariest and best horror games on PC, The Outlast Trials finally saw its full launch out of early access on Tuesday, March 5, and it seems that’s just the beginning. The team at Red Barrels sat down for a post-launch Q and A with game director Alex Charbonneau and community manager Rosie Sarno, where they teased sharing an update roadmap of upcoming features, which we’ve now been given a look at.
The focus is obviously on The Outlast Trials Season 1, which is set to arrive in the summer, bringing with it new trials, a prime asset, a rig, amps, rewards, extra events, and more. There’s still a lot to look forward to before that, however. Firstly is the weekly calendar, which has four programs running through the first month of 1.0.
The current program is ‘Sharp Glass,’ where any broken glass becomes a hazard. Following that, subsequent weeks will see ‘Be Quiet,’ forcing you to make no noise; ‘No Rigs,’ which does exactly what it says on the tin; and ‘One Chance,’ where syringes and revives are removed completely, pushing you to nail that flawless run.
Sarno notes that the team at Red Barrels “saw how much people liked weeklies, how some people liked certain weeklies more than others,” such as when certain modifiers effectively forced people into either solo or multiplayer, and that the team is adapting its designs in the future based on this feedback. Charbonneau says he’s “curious to see what kinds of builds people are going to come up with to counter those weekly therapy variations.”
There’s also the first limited-time event for 1.0, Toxic Shock, which is set to arrive “soon” and will be followed by another, as-yet classified event. You can expect new variations, more MK-challenges, and additional rewards to earn. Charbonneau explains that major events will replace the weekly program through their duration “to give everyone enough time to try and finish it and unlock the rewards.”
Beyond that, the team plans plenty more of everything from the future, including an infinite mode for trials, daily and weekly tasks to give you a fresh round of challenges each time you play, and an all-new game mode, along with more trials, enemies, events, and rewards.
There’s also more story to be told – Sarno says during the stream that there will be a lot to come on Program Lathe, but that it’s “one of the big narrative parts of the story of The Outlast Trials, so that will be told slowly.” You’ll have to stick around if you’re hoping to find out more about why we’re all trapped in this nightmare, then.
For the time being, you’ll have plenty to keep you busy in the run-up to Season 1, then. If that’s all a bit much, have a look through the best co-op games for plenty of other fun options that aren’t quite as relentlessly stressful. Or, if you crave that panic, the best survival games have plenty more for you.
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