Fake Ghost Hunters Face Real Horror in Until Dawn 2

A group of influencers who've built their brand faking paranormal encounters get shipped to a remote island where the ghosts are real. That's the pitch for Until Dawn 2, announced during Sony's June 2 State of Play, and it's one of those premises that practically writes itself. The original Until Dawn thrived on slasher-movie tropes turned interactive; this sequel leans into a different, more modern kind of horror victim: content creators so desperate for clicks they walk straight into actual danger.

The new cast runs a paranormal channel called Dead True, which is apparently wildly popular despite every single investigation being staged. When a TV network deal sends them to Akashina Island, an abandoned tropical locale tied to a woman's dark story, the fiction they've been selling starts manifesting around them. According to Firesprite's post on the PlayStation Blog, the choice system has been expanded so that relationships between crew members carry more weight. "Even small character moments can set off a Butterfly Effect, sending your story spinning off towards unforeseen consequences," the studio wrote. The tagline remains intact: everyone can live, everyone can die.

The shift from Blackwood Mountain's frozen isolation to a sun-drenched island is a smart visual contrast. Horror set in bright, open environments is harder to pull off than cramped corridors and snowstorms, and I'm curious whether Firesprite can make daylight feel as threatening as Supermassive made darkness. The trailer leans heavily on a masked killer and some nasty set-pieces, including a moment where the player chooses whether to jump from a cliff alone or shove a friend off it. Peter Stormare is back as the enigmatic Dr. Hill, which should please anyone who remembers his unsettling therapy sessions from the first game.

Firesprite Takes Over

The biggest question hanging over this sequel isn't the setting or the cast. It's the developer. Supermassive Games created the original Until Dawn and went on to build an entire sub-genre around interactive horror with The Dark Pictures Anthology and The Quarry. They reportedly considered making a sequel themselves but never followed through. Instead, Sony handed the project to Firesprite, the Liverpool-based first-party studio it acquired in 2021. Firesprite's most recent release was Horizon Call of the Mountain for PS VR2 in 2023, a technically impressive but narratively thin VR showcase. Going from a VR launch title to a choice-driven horror game with branching narratives and a full cast of characters is a significant leap.

I'm excited about this one, but the developer swap is the variable I can't ignore. Supermassive understood pacing, camp, and the specific rhythm of letting players sit with a bad decision before the consequences hit. Firesprite says the team are "massive fans of the original," and they've clearly studied the formula. Whether they can replicate the tone, or better yet, push it somewhere new, is the whole game.

Until Dawn 2 is confirmed for PlayStation 5 with a 2027 launch window. Sony hasn't announced a specific release date, and there's been no mention of a PC version, though the 2024 PS5 and PC remaster of the original suggests one could follow later. Firesprite says more story details, gameplay reveals, and cast introductions are coming in the months ahead.