The developers behind Warhammer 40000: Space Marine 2, and World War Z, Saber Interactive, are pouring blood, sweat, and dreams into a new survival horror video game project, Hellraiser: Revival. It's based on the morbidly fascinating novella by Clive Barker, and connected to the original universe of the classic movies. They worked closely with the author, letting him guide and nurture the vision Saber Interactive was going for. The result is potentially the most authentic and visceral Hellraiser video game experience we may ever receive. There's a lot of hope from fans, considering how rare it is to witness a single-player, premium, and largely uncensored survival horror game based on a beloved franchise, especially a cult classic such as Hellraiser.
You play as the protagonist, Aidan, whose sexual curiosities with his girlfriend, Sunny, lead to the Configuration Box — and that's where all hell breaks loose. Pardon the pun. Sunny is ripped apart, and her soul is cast into the Labyrinth. Aidan's goal is to survive, but there could be choices left to the player as to what happens between Aidan and the cenobites and Sunny's fate. I could be reading too far into the words of narrative director Antony De Fault, who used "maybes" when considering a deal with the cenobites and saving Sunny's life. Perhaps it's a clue that the ending is expected to be unexpected, which I wouldn't expect anything less.
"At last," said actor Doug Bradley, when he reminisced about first finding out about a Hellraiser game in production. Of course, he was cast to give life to the famous cenobite, Pinhead, in the game. Though eventually, recasts happen for one reason or another that can't be helped, having Doug Bradley on the project is almost as good as involving Clive Barker himself. Doug spoke of the author as a "genuis" and a "friend."
To have the original actor involved who played Pinhead for decades, blossoming cruor spectacle on screen, brings a wealth of experience with "living" in the Hellraiser lore. His mind has a lot to offer, keeping the dark spirit of Pinhead consistent as we remember him.
Another important reason why fans are excited is that the game is unapologetically uncensored. However, it's also strangely beautiful and captivating from the clips we were shown. Horror in slashers and thrillers tends to depict gore as a destruction of the body. Just a means to an end. Hellraiser: Revival shows gore and grume differently. It's depicted as art, like a canvas that can be experienced. It's not shock value for the sake of it, but each and every occurrence of disturbing imagery is used with intention. Not a drop of blood goes to waste. For lack of better words, the artists were thinking like cenobites.
The art director, Petra Nikolić, expressed the unique challenges of working on a horror game this explicit. Not everyone on the developer team has the same horror tolerance. Researching on the Internet for reference materials without ending up on unsavory sites was also a unique hurdle. I do surely hope they were careful there, but the dedication to delve into the unknown for art deserves respect.
Hellraiser: Revival is shaping up to be the survival horror dream game fans never knew they needed. Nurtured and brewed from the mind of Clive Barker, enhanced with Doug Bradley's iconic performance, all for a single-player campaign with hand-crafted body horror. It's almost too good to be true, but I have a good feeling about this one.
There still isn't an exact release date, but the Fall 2026 launch window has not changed. You can wishlist it now.