The Outlast Trials

The Outlast Trials is a first-person survival horror game by Red Barrels. Unlike the earlier Outlast games, it is designed around repeatable therapy scenarios that can be completed alone or in co-op with up to four players.

The story takes place during the Cold War. The Murkoff Corporation abducts test subjects to the Sinyala facility and subjects them to physical and psychological experiments. Players take on so-called Reagents, who work their way through these programs and ultimately earn their release.

The Outlast Trials was released on Mar 5, 2024 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series. Early Access on PC began on May 18, 2023. Since Oct 27, 2026, the horror game is also available for Nintendo Switch 2. The developer and publisher is Red Barrels.

The Outlast Trials has been released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series and Nintendo Switch 2. On Switch 2 there is a standalone digital version since Oct 27, 2026. Nintendo lists 46 GB of storage space, German on-screen text and online co-op for up to four people. Online play on Switch 2 requires Nintendo Switch Online.

Red Barrels supports cross-platform play. A shared transfer of game progress between all platforms is not confirmed.

Therapy consists of longer trials and shorter MK challenges. Players sneak past enemies, manage scarce resources and complete tasks alone or together. Rigs, prescriptions and amps change their abilities. In the dormitory they prepare for the next attempt and adjust their equipment.

Programs bundle several tests. Ratings, changing conditions and permanent unlocks make sure the same locations can be played in different ways.

For the PC version, Steam lists Windows 10, 8 GB RAM and 40 GB of free storage as the minimum baseline. Minimum graphics cards include GeForce GTX 650 Ti, Radeon R7 360 or Intel Arc A310; the target is 720p and 30 FPS without ray tracing. Recommended are 16 GB RAM and, among others, GeForce GTX 1660, Radeon RX Vega 56 or Intel Arc A580 for 1080p and 60 FPS.

Red Barrels expands The Outlast Trials after version 1.0 through seasons and larger content updates. Project Boneyard introduced in 2026, among other things, the Prison Farm as a new trial environment, the trial “Locksock the Warden”, two additional MK challenges and the new Ex-Pop The Biter.

The update also permanently expanded loadout management, rig and knife customization, and Mastery Tasks. This means not only the map pool grows, but also the long-term build and progression structure.

With Project Boneyard, two long-term game modes were fundamentally reworked. Invasion 2.0 gave Imposters their own gadgets and loadouts, adjusted matchmaking and maps, and improved communication between teams. Escalation 2.0 added weekly variants, leaderboards, reworked save states and a new interface for the endless mode.