The Outlast Trials Releases New Update and Toxic Shock Event

Highlights

The Outlast Trials' first post-launch update introduces the limited-time Toxic Shock event with new missions and rewards.
The game's latest update introduces two new MK-Challenges and changes to unlocking Program X and Program Ultra.
Red Barrels is expected to shake up strategies with the upcoming Season 1, adding new trials, events, and more to the game.

The Outlast Trials has received its first content update across all platforms since fully releasing in March, introducing the limited-time event Toxic Shock and two additional missions. An untitled release, it also includes multiple bug fixes and balance changes. This is the first step in an extensive roadmap for The Outlast Trials.

A co-op survival horror game, The Outlast Trials is one of the scariest to recently come to market. The third title in the franchise, it originally released in Early Access in 2023. A year later, in March 2024, the 1.0 version was launched. Soon after, a large roadmap for the rest of the year was revealed, showing how dedicated the development team is to the game and the faithful community.

outlast trials player being attacked by a monster

The Unwritten Rules of The Outlast Trials Explained

The latest installment in the Outlast series differs from previous games in a major way, giving The Outlast Trials new unwritten rules.

On April 16, all platforms received a massive update that included the Toxic Shock event. Running until May 7 at 10 AM EST, there are multiple missions to complete within the Toxic Shock trial. The main quest is to stay alive while the room fills with toxic gas and players are stalked by a shock wand-wielding enemy. While the trial is running, players should recover the drugged rats found in the room for additional rewards. New evidence about Toxic Shock is found throughout the Trial area. Successful completion earns players Toxic Tokens and themed cosmetics.

The event isn't the only new content coming to the game. Two new MK-Challenges will start appearing once Toxic Shock has finished. Tilt the Scales of Justice focuses on loading up the scales with evidence of false crimes. Sabotage the Factory is more straightforward as players only need to shut down the area using the emergency breaks. Both will debut as part of the Weekly Program Recent Therapies. Additionally, changes were made to unlocking The Outlast Trials' Progam X and Program Ultra.

Other changes include increased rewards for getting an A+ in The Outlast Trials, fixes to solo players not being able to go under open garage doors, and invisible enemies. New notifications for when new items are obtained were added, along with a reworked main menu. Some of the updates may make survival even harder, such as jumping backwards to bypass door detectors.

This is just the start of what Red Barrels has planned according to the roadmap. Next up is Season 1 releasing during the summer. It's expected to add new trials, new events, a new Prime Asset, and a new rig to The Outlast Trials. The changes are sure to shake up current player strategies.

The Outlast Trials Toxic Shock Update Notes

This update includes:

New Limited-Time Event: TOXIC SHOCK.
New Mk-Challenges incoming.
Revised unlocking process for Program X and Program Ultra.
Various improvements/fixes/quality of life updates.

Toxic Shock brings a new experiment in the symbiotic action of chemically-induced pain and permanent damage to the Sinyala Facility. Recover all the drugged rats within the Trials for tissue analysis. Fulfill the secondary objective for additional rewards.

New variators:

Toxic Shock: The Trial environment sporadically fills with toxic gas, inflicting permanent damage. Hide to stay alive.
Collect The Rats: Recover all the drugged rats within the Trial for tissue analysis. Fulfill the objective for additional rewards.
Complete Trials in this time-limited program to earn Toxic Tokens and exclusive Toxic Cosmetics.
Uncover the secrets of Toxic Shock by locating new evidence documents scattered throughout the Trials.

Toxic Shock will run until May 7th at 10 AM ET (GMT -4)

Please be aware that Weekly Programs will be temporarily halted during the presence of Toxic Shock

New MK-Challenges - Available May 7th

New Mk-Challenges will debut in upcoming Events and Weekly Trials on May 7th and will be part of the Weekly Program: Recent Therapies

Tilt The Scales of Justice - Can real evidence of false crimes outweigh the power of corrupting wealth? Load the scales of Lady Justice and observe.
Sabotage the Factory - Murkoff controls the means of production; use the emergency breaks to shut down the factory.

Programs Structure Tweaks

Changes to Program structures:

Complete all Trials of Program Genesis to unlock Program X.
Complete all Trials of Program X to unlock Program Ultra.
Last Trial of Program Genesis now gives the Core Therapy Poster (previously was 1st reborn).

Dev Comment: "We've observed that some players struggled to complete the Release Protocol, preventing them from unlocking and experimenting with Program X and Ultra. With this update, players can now continue making progress and access the final Trial when they feel ready."

Fixes/Additions/Balancing

Increased rewards for perfect scores (A+) in harder Trials.
Reduced score penalty for triggering sound traps.
Reworked the main menu.
Cross-play message now displayed only once (instead of every time the player enters the Sleep Room).
New TV in the shuttle displays the remaining time before the Shuttle leaves (exit trial sequence).
New pointing animation was added when pinging.
Courthouse: Decreased the number of evidence to gather for this objective.
Courthouse: Reworked the positioning of puzzle box clues.
Toy Factory: Reduced the delay of trapped boxes to 1 second.
Lobby: New notifications on Mirror and Bed when new items are acquired.
Lobby: New notification on Personal Cell when there’s a new notification inside the cell (mirror, bed, radio).
Antotoxin (Amp): Sanity restoration delay reduced to 60 seconds (was 120 seconds).
Controller only: Players no longer need to hold the input for specific hold actions, allowing joystick use to look around while holding an interaction (e.g., pushing the Snitch). This can be turned off in the settings.
Placing a ping now triggers a pointing emote.
Fixed an issue where players could prevent an NPC from bashing through a door via an exploit.
Fixed an issue where some players were unable to pass under an open Garage door in solo.
Fixed an issue where using the X-Ray would sometimes remove the shimmer on items/objectives.
Fixed an issue where players would get stuck forever if going down (bleeding out) in the stairways of Orphanage.
Fixed an issue where the hit reaction after being damaged would be delayed.
Fixed an issue where players could disarm a battery-powered device with the stun rig before the objective was started.
Fixed an issue where if the application was abruptly closed while the player is affected by the Psychosis effect from a trapped door, the player is unable to return to that trial (reconnection).
Fixed an issue where an enemy could appear to be invisible.
Fixed an issue when disconnecting from inside a hiding spot.
Fixed issues when a player would disconnect from a Trial while holding a large object.
Fixed an issue where players could maneuver and be able to pass a large objective item through detector doors.
Fixed an issue where players could jump backward to bypass door detectors.
Fixed some issues with the spectator mode (when a player dies and spectates another player).