Philippe Morin, co-founder of Red Barrels—the studio behind the survival horror “Outlast” series—shared an anecdote in an interview with the international media outlet GameSpot about a past playtest during which a participant ran out of the studio and never returned.
Development Environment Involving Graphic Content: Thorough Explanation Even During Job Interviews
The *Outlast* series is a survival horror franchise set in a world filled with gore, pain, and madness, where players must escape or hide from enemies to survive.
Since the Steam version of the first game, *Outlast*, was released in 2013, *Outlast 2* followed in 2017, and the latest installment, *The Outlast Trials*, was released in 2024.Regarding the latest title, perhaps due to the impact of a major update—which included a 90% off sale in October 2026 and the limited-time “Chemical Leak” event—the game’s peak concurrent players on Steam reached an all-time high of 147,955 on October 8 (Japan Standard Time) (according to SteamDB).
In this interview looking back on the series’ history, when asked if the game’s graphic content was inspired by the popularity of horror movies of the time—such as *Saw*—Morin noted that it wasn’t a calculated decision but rather a reflection of his personal taste.He explained that they hadn’t set out from the beginning to create the most brutal game, but rather held the view that “since we’re making a horror game, it’s only natural that it will be grotesque.” He recalled that the screenwriter had also remarked, “You can never have too much blood.”
As they pushed those depictions further, he mentioned that during a past playtest, one participant ran out of the studio a few hours into the game and cried outside—and that participant never returned.
Morin also touched on the hiring process, noting that during interviews, “we make sure applicants fully understand the type of content we produce and the conversations necessary to create that content.” Since topics that might lead to a meeting with HR at other studios come up, he emphasized that applicants must be comfortable with such content.
Even so, there was reportedly a case in the past where an employee started working on a Monday and resigned by Thursday of the same week. That staff member reflected that, while they were aware of the grotesque depictions and violent content, they could not accept certain unexpected elements, such as religious themes (this is believed to refer to *Outlast 2*).
The latest installment in the series, *The Outlast Trials*, is now available for PC (Steam/Epic Games Store), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PS4/PS5 (international markets).
