Reboot of Alone in the Dark Pushed Back to January 2021

The highly anticipated reboot of the renowned survival horror franchise Alone in the Dark has encountered a delay in its release date. Originally scheduled for October, the game will now be launched in January. However, this delay is not due to any need for further improvements or refinements. Rather, it is a strategic decision aimed at ensuring the game finds its audience amidst the multitude of gaming releases expected in the busy month of October.

The new release date is January 16, with publisher THQ Nordic noting that the game’s “eerie embrace of solitude” would be “impossible to achieve in such a busy gaming month as October.” The company isn’t blowing smoke, with the October release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Forza Motorsport, Spider-Man 2, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Detective Pikachu Returns, Sonic Superstars, Alan Wake II and well, the list goes on and on. This is sure to be a wallet-busting month.

This is on top of September’s busy release schedule, so Alone in the Dark’s January release gives players more time to finish Starfield, Baldur’s Gate 3, Mortal Kombat 1, and the new round of Cyberpunk 2077 DLC. It’s interesting to note that none of these September or October releases are survival horror games, although Alan Wake comes close, so the title could have found a niche anyway.

So what is Alone in the Dark? The original game is considered the first 3D survival horror game, beating Resident Evil by four years. Since the 1990s, there have been sequels, spinoffs, and even other attempts to reboot the franchise. This latest installment is the first main game version since 2015 and the first game in the series to be developed since THQ Nordic bought the license from Atari in 2018.

The story of the reboot is written by Mikael Hedberg, the mind behind the survival games Soma and Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Guillermo del Toro’s long-time collaborator Guy Davis is responsible for designing the creatures. THQ Nordic has announced that the new Alone in the Dark will be a completely original game, but will feature playable characters from the 1990s games. It will be released for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on January 16, 2024.