If 2021 was full of anything, it was horror. While that unfortunately also extends to the real world, video games had a decent number of high-quality horror experiences for aficionados to enjoy, from smaller experiences like Little Nightmares 2 up to triple-a games like Resident Evil Village. Luckily, 2022 is going to go beyond what 2021 accomplished, especially for the horror genre.
This year, horror fans can expect a broad selection of terrifying new games to hit consoles. Horror is one of the most popular genres out there across film, television, and games, so it's not uncommon to see a large number of new horror projects debut in a calendar year. However, 2022 is taking things to a whole new level, giving fans some pulse-pounding entertainment to chew through.
New Horror Games Based on Movies
The past few years have been interesting for long-established horror franchises in the digital space. While horror movies have been found in video games dating all the way back to the Atari 2600, it seems like more horror franchises are dipping their toes into video games. That's in large part thanks to games like Dead By Daylight and Friday the 13th, both of which are based on or heavily feature iconic horror characters.
Horror movie fans have a lot to look forward to in 2022. A new Texas Chainsaw Massacre game is slated to debut sometime this year, along with an Evil Dead game. The two IPs are some of the most popular horror franchises on the planet, influencing many of the horror movies that are made even today. Unfortunately, not much has been seen of either project yet, so fans only have a vague idea of how they'll operate.
That being said, it'll be interesting to see how a licensed horror game fares in the context of 2022. Other games have established 4v1 multiplayer settings, but going that direction may seem derivative at this point. There are, however, plenty of interesting other directions that the teams behind the games could go, offering bold new takes on horror that subvert expectations, despite how long their source material has been around.
Sequels to Popular Horror Franchises
While it's always exciting to see new horror IPs debut, there's still a lot of love left for certain franchises to give, and many of them will debut new games in 2022. In fact, many of 2022's biggest horror games come from existing franchises, like The Outlast Trials, Dying Light 2, and Resident Evil RE:Verse. There are plenty of others too, but those are just some of the highlights that fans can look forward to.
The best thing about these new sequels is that they shake up the formula in interesting ways. For instance, while The Outlast Trials has many familiar elements for fans of the first two games, the game now supports co-op and a broader suite of enemies, which should make for a more interesting time on repeated playthroughs. It's a bit interesting that horror is shifting more heavily to co-op all around, but newer games have proven that having friends along for the ride can make games more enjoyable and approachable without sacrificing terror.
It's easy to criticize developers for leaning too heavily into existing franchises, but horror allows creators to be uniquely inventive. No matter what, horror exists in a space that's meant to terrify and delight, something that's often harder to get right than fans assume it'll be. However, while these franchises will still have recognizable looks and tones, they're able to create compelling new monster designs to keep things fresh. That's especially true for horror games, where new and refined mechanics can make or break an experience.
New Horror Games in 2022
In many ways more exciting than existing IP, there's a ton of new horror game franchises debuting this year. Scorn, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and The Callisto Protocol are all scheduled to release this year, and each game feels distinct from the other offerings. It's not often that a year feels so densely packed with unique games, and it's even rarer to see a year packed with unique games across multiple genres. However, many of 2021's delayed games are now narrowing down release windows, so gamers will have a lot to enjoy.
For horror fans, that's an impressive blend of new and old. The new stuff just seems exceptionally unique this time around. Ghostwire: Tokyo isn't expected to lean all that heavily into horror, but it still seems like it will offer a mind-bending story and some decent tension as players explore the city. The Callisto Protocol also leans heavily into its horror elements, though its PUBG connections are a bit of a wildcard. Each one has something to offer, and that's special.
The only real issue is that it's difficult to gauge when these games will start to land. Gamers have mostly been promised vague "2022" windows, which could mean that most of the year's horror games end up launching towards the end of the year. That's great for people that really like to get into the spirit of Halloween, but it might leave the rest of the year high and dry. Regardless, there's plenty to be excited about.
And of course, there are bound to be more new horror games announced throughout 2022 for fans to be excited about. While E3 is up in the air at the moment, there are plenty of other events where new horror games could be revealed. It's unlikely that all of the new games announced land in 2022, but there are bound to be at least a few. Delays have become a lot more common in the world's current state, so it's difficult to predict what will release and when.
