A newly announced Steam game called Wilderdark appears to combine elements of Dino Crisis and Alien: Isolation into a uniquely terrifying experience. Due to debut in the second half of 2026, the game will be preceded by a Steam demo, which is scheduled to arrive this May.
Wilderdark is the latest title from Team Junkfish, a Scottish studio founded in the early 2010s. To date, it has produced three games, beginning with the procedurally generated horror game Monstrum, released in 2015. The company later delivered turn-based strategy game Attack of the Earthlings and Prohibition-era mafia roguelite Bootleg Steamer, launched in 2018 and 2024, respectively.
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Wilderdark Announced with a Tense Trailer
On April 30, Team Junkfish announced its fourth title in the form of Wilderdark, a first-person survival horror game set on a creepy dinosaur island infected by mysterious parasites that seem to have a corrupting influence on local flora and fauna. The protagonist arrives on the island in search of a cure for immortality, as well as traces of past expeditions that disappeared in its lush jungles. Making matters even more dramatic, one of the previous expeditions was led by the protagonist’s parents. Wilderdark was announced with a tense cinematic trailer that lists a 2026 release window for the upcoming title.
What Wilderdark Has in Common with Alien: Isolation
Based on the early promotional materials for the game, Wilderdark appears to carry some Alien: Isolation influences, the most obvious of which is its moment-to-moment gameplay. Rather than presenting its dinosaur threats as enemies to be routinely fought, the game seems built around the pressure of being hunted by apex predators. It thus emphasizes stealth, scarce resource management, environmental exploration, and crafting, combining them into a consistently tense sci-fi survival loop that’s likely to appeal to Alien: Isolation fans.
What Wilderdark Has in Common with Dino Crisis
Wilderdark‘s similarities to Dino Crisis are more straightforward and mostly come down to its setting. A strange island populated by ferocious dinosaurs, a story centered on a scientific mystery, and survival horror gameplay that includes sample collection are all elements that would not feel out of place in a Dino Crisis title. However, Wilderdark appears to lean more heavily into ecological horror than Capcom’s series, and the first-person perspective gives it a markedly different feel, making dinosaurs feel even more imposing.
Wilderdark Steam Demo Launching May 7
Based on the game’s 2026 launch window and lack of a concrete release date, Wilderdark seems likely to debut in the second half of the year. That would mark a first for Team Junkfish, as the studio’s first three titles all hit the market in the first half of their release years. Wilderdark can currently be wishlisted on Steam, while Valve’s storefront also has a separate listing for the game’s demo, which is scheduled for release on May 7. Team Junkfish’s upcoming release is on track to debut as the second dinosaur horror game of 2026, following the poorly rated Code Violet, which launched exclusively on the PlayStation 5 in mid-January. Wilderdark has so far only been confirmed for PC.
