Halloween is the best time for horror, and Red Barrels Studio seems to understand that. They've used the holiday to tease a new Outlast game with a somewhat cryptic image across their social pages.
The image, seen below, features two hands gripped as though someone is falling and both people are desperate to hang on. The line "Where freedom ends" is written across the bottom. The person presumably on the bottom (unless Red Barrels is messing with the orientation of the scene depicted) is wearing some sort of ID bracelet which seems to read MK-329366.
The bracelet may be a clue to the game's story, as the "MK" could refer to Murkoff, the in-universe corporation responsible for much of the two games' most unethical, violent events. It may also relate to MKULTRA, a real-life CIA operation which Red Barrels has written into its story universe. The green tint of the scene leaves little doubt that Red Barrels is teasing a new Outlast game and some other new project. Both Outlast and Outlast 2 exist in the same universe, which left some fans scratching their heads given the way Outlast 2 concludes, but it appears this next game will share that same story world too.
Red Barrels quietly confirmed the existence of a new Outlast game back in 2017 when they simultaneously revealed that the Outlast series, including the first game, its DLC, and the sequel, would be heading to Nintendo Switch. Now the company promises an announcement is "coming soon."
Outlast launched in 2013 on PC before migrating to other platforms over subsequent years. It earned a strong 76 on OpenCritic. Its 2017 sequel garnered similar praise, sitting today with a 75 average on OpenCritic. Both games put players behind a night vision-lit camera as investigative journalists in over their heads among some horrific settings. The first game takes place in an asylum recently reopened under the guise of charity, while the second game sees players crash-land their news helicopter in the middle of a religious cult in the deserts of Arizona.
