Sker Ritual

Sker Ritual is a horror shooter from Wales Interactive that combines survival battles in successive waves of enemies with exploration and mission objectives. Alone or online with up to four players, you fight the so-called Quiet Ones on Sker Island. They appear in masses, are accompanied by elite enemies and force the group to keep upgrading weapons and abilities.

The setting comes from the narrative horror game Maid of Sker. Sker Ritual, however, takes a different direction in gameplay: instead of mostly hiding from enemies, you defend yourself with firearms, Miracles and tactical teamwork.

On Steam, Sker Ritual began Early Access on October 6, 2022. On April 18, 2024, version 1.0 was released for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. With the full release, Wales Interactive added new missions, weapons and narrative content compared with the early PC build.

On April 24, 2025, the studio also released standalone versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The anniversary update at the time also enabled cross-platform multiplayer on these consoles. The two generations of a console maker should therefore be treated as separate native versions.

Sker Ritual is available on Windows PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. The first full versions for PC and current consoles came out in April 2024. The older generations were added a year later with their own versions, rather than being reached merely through backward compatibility.

On PC, the Steam version is listed with online co-op, cloud saves and cross-platform multiplayer. The older Xbox One version also supports crossplay, according to the studio. A native Nintendo Switch release is not confirmed in the official product listings.

Combat is organised in rounds. With each wave, more Quiet Ones press towards the players, while special elite enemies and bosses test your position and equipment. Anyone who stays in one place easily gets into trouble: in the maps, paths must be opened and objectives completed at the same time.

Beyond the actual survival fight, there are also mission objectives and hidden puzzles. They give an additional incentive to explore the locations, rather than just surviving as many rounds as possible. The number of players changes how the group divides up the various tasks.

Through several major free updates, Sker Ritual grew with additional maps, hidden objectives, enemies and permanently available game modes. Separate from these are the separately offered cosmetic DLC packs: they change masks and visual design, for example, but not the basic rules of the round-based battles.

In July 2026, Wales Interactive reorganised the editions on offer. Since then the Nightmare Edition is the base version with the main game and four cosmetic packs: Draig’s Terror, Stranger Danger, Skerville Slasher and Sker Ritual x Hazard Levels. The Inferno Edition includes the main game with all DLC packs released up to July 2026. An upgrade from Nightmare to Inferno, as well as individual DLC purchases, remain planned.

Content already purchased is not removed or retroactively re-credited by the switch, according to the developer. The two editions are different purchase scopes of the same base game, not additional native platform releases. When buying, you therefore need to distinguish between the full version, an upgrade and an individual add-on pack.

The Steam version requires at least a Core i5-4460 or AMD FX-6300 with 8 GB RAM. The store lists a GTX 760 or Radeon R7 260X with 2 GB video memory as graphics hardware. Additionally, DirectX 11 and 15 GB of free disk space are required.

Recommended are a Core i5-10500 or Ryzen 5 2600, 8 GB RAM and a GTX 970 or Radeon R9 290. Although the original game requirements name older Windows versions, the current Steam client requires Windows 10 or later.

The horror shooter can be played alone or in online co-op with up to four players. The group fights together against waves of enemies and bosses and completes objectives within the same map. A ping system helps mark important places and situations without voice chat.

For the full release in April 2024, Wales Interactive confirmed crossplay between Xbox and PC. With the anniversary update of April 24, 2025, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One were also added to cross-platform multiplayer support. This is a permanent feature.

Miracles are supernatural upgrades you receive during a match. At a corresponding find, you choose from three randomly offered enhancements. They affect, for example, firearms, melee attacks, grenades or healing.

An additional chargeable Ultimate ability can help when too many Quiet Ones attack at once. The various powers of Celtic deities can be combined. Which combination is most useful depends on your own weapon and the needs of the group.

You buy firearms and ammunition during rounds at the stalls of the Laughing Policeman. At Lucky you can bet on a random, possibly stronger weapon. Particularly important equipment can be upgraded into a more powerful steampunk variant with the Super Charge system.

For long-term unlocks there are free reward systems such as Dread Levels and the Sker Pass. They complement cosmetic options and achievements, while the combat-deciding weapon and Miracle choices take place within the ongoing match.

The current PC version features six standalone maps according to Steam. Each is more than an arena: mission objectives, secret tasks and hidden clues give the wave fights a second layer. Elite enemies have special abilities, and bosses require suitable equipment and coordinated movement.

The structure was also expanded after the original 1.0 launch. The 2025 anniversary update brought, among other things, a hidden, cross-map objective with additional boss mechanics. Such permanently added objectives shape the scope more than time-limited reward events.

On Steam, Sker Ritual offers German menus and subtitles, while full voice-over is listed there only for English. The PC supports mouse and keyboard as well as compatible controllers.

The network features include cross-platform online matches and a ping system. In the options, the preferred host or matchmaking region can be set after the anniversary update. A local split-screen mode is not listed on the official Steam product page.

Since the major update of July 2025, Sker Ritual also supports a third-person view alongside the classic first-person perspective. It can be selected in the graphics settings. Three camera distances are available: close, normal and far. This changes the view of the player character without turning the round-based shooter into a different game.

The Custom Game mode introduced at the same time allows solo or private matches with altered rules. The modifiers include different enemy sizes, gravity and adjusted round conditions. Wales Interactive already named more than 100 modifiers in January 2026. In such self-adjusted matches, regular achievement unlocks and statistical rankings are restricted. Custom Games are therefore mainly for experimenting rather than regular progression.

Additional configuration options were added later. These permanently usable variants complement the classic public online matches, but do not replace them.