The Outlast Trials, Red Barrels’ co-op horror game set in its wider Outlast universe, just broke its concurrent-player record, eclipsing 120,000 players. The previous high came when the game launched in Steam Early Access in 2023 and the player count climbed to 36,000.
Today’s new record means the indie horror game reset the bar with a total more than four times higher than its previous best.
Red Barrels credited a few big factors for the record. For one, The Outlast Trials is enjoying a huge discount in the Steam Autumn Sale, on sale for $4–though that sale ends tomorrow (Thursday, October 8), if you’re interested.
The studio also revealed that roughly half of the players contributing to that total are from China, as the game is seeing a surge in popularity there. Naturally, the Halloween season helps too, even though it’s not one of the new horror games coming out this month.
The Outlast Trials made its version 1.0 debut in the spring of 2024. Though it’s playable solo, it’s intended to be experienced as a co-op game for up to four people. Seasonal content and events have come to the game regularly since then, adding new villains, abilities, maps, and more.
Up next for the game is its annual Geister event for Halloween, followed by Season 8 in December, which will add another new major villain, or “Prime Asset,” as well as a new map and more events.
The Outlast Trials is a favorite on GameSpot, featured in our best horror multiplayer games list and our best horror games (overall) list. In my Outlast Trials review, I said it’s “capable of being as terrifying as previous Outlast games, and though you’ll trade away some scares when playing with a bigger group, they’re likely to be replaced by nervous laughs as you and your allies narrowly evade monsters in the dark.”
