The Outlast Trials is a 4-player survival horror set during the Cold War

(Image credit: Red Barrels)

Red Barrels' next Outlast game is a co-op horror romp, as Chris predicted when the studio teased it in October. The Outlast Trials isn't a direct follow-up of the earlier strictly singleplayer games, though it is set in the same spooky universe.

As test subjects in a mystery Cold War experiment, players will be able to scare themselves stupid on their lonesome or work together with up to three unfortunate pals. It isn't clear what trials the experiment's victims will have to endure, but there is some art you can stare at below.

It looks like night vision goggles will be replacing the earlier games' camera, but for a moment I thought they might be VR headsets. They're obviously not, but Red Barrels hasn't announced platforms, or anything, really, so it could still have VR support.

According to Red Barrels co-founder David Chateauneuf, the proof of concept is complete and the team is now in development mode. It's still very early days, then, and there's no release date. In the meantime, here's what we thought of the previous game, Outlast 2.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.