Asynchronous multiplayer horror game Last Year: The Nightmare is preparing to relaunch on Steam following a botched 2018 arrival as a Discord store exclusive last December. To no fault of Elastic Games or their horror game, the Discord store was shuttered in October of this year following a lack of use cited by the chat client which once had intentions of taking on Steam.
In a press release, Elastic Games said their 20-person team from Montreal "poured in their blood, sweat, and tears all over again" and are bringing the game to Steam for the first time on December 11. Players who purchased Last Year on the Discord store will receive a Steam copy at no charge, including its brand new expansion "Chapter 1: Afterdark."
The expansion chapter introduces a new monster in the shape of a massive spider. Together as a group of five students, players will have to outwit and outlast the sixth player character playing as the monster. This new chapter sits alongside the game's original setting which features a more humanoid (but less than human) enemy player named The Fiend.
Elastic Games spoke openly about the hardships of the last year, from building up a community "almost overnight" to the "pain of letting their fans down" when the game disappeared from its only available storefront. They spent the last 12 months creating the new chapter and preparing for the Steam relaunch which is now less than a month away.
Last Year: The Nightmare joins similar games such as Friday The 13th: The Game and Dead By Daylight in a recent string of horror games that pit several vulnerable players against one overpowered killer where strength in numbers is the key to victory for the survivors. Last Year also holds the distinction of being the highest-reviewed game in the subgenre with its 72 OpenCritic score beating out Friday The 13th (61) and Dead by Daylight (66).
