Hellraiser: Revival aims to make players feel uncomfortable — and succeeds in 30 minutes

The useful part

Lauren Bergin News Editor Lauren spends most of her time dead in League of Legends, or equally as dead in Valorant. This interview deals with topics that include sadomasochism, themes of abuse, substance misuse, and discussions of a sexual nature, including the likes of BDSM. If those themes aren't for you, that's totally okay, but I'd advise that you avoid this article, and perhaps Hellraiser:

How it works

• I am Aidan, a man who's desperately searching for his girlfriend, Sunny, who's been pulled into the Cenobites' Labyrinth.
• It's that feeling of having to look at something that's discomforting to you, but you can't look away." "I will say that we wanted to show a spectrum as well," de Fault highlights.
• "Having discomfort as a key emotion for us really helped us navigate and be honest about what we want to show," Esov says.
• That's how we do it, and I think it feels organic in the Hellraiser space." Hellraiser:
• It was really important to us that we weren't just pointing at people who like leather and whips and paddles and being like 'oh, look at you sickos!' It was important to us to show that there are healthy...

What to take from it

"I think that's a good thing, because many horror games go for the 'fear' emotion, which isn't cheap, but is easy to evoke. When people are looking at and experiencing uncomfortable feelings, they go to fear as well because that prolonged discomfort makes you afraid. There are also other characters in the game who engage in safe and completely acceptable, consensual BDSM.

Example or evidence

• The texts are a little more lighthearted, using keyboard characters to draw a woman's breasts.
• I'm hardly conservative, but it's rare that I see the word 'c u next Tuesday' appear in a videogame.
• "We're trying to make people uncomfortable," Narrative Director Antony de Fault tells me at Gamescom.
• effectively trap people in their eerie realm (The Labyrinth) and inflict said violence upon them.

Details worth keeping

September 27, 2026 I'm going to start this article with a trigger warning. "We don't compromise," Game Director Emil Esov echoes. Translating that into a videogame isn't exactly easy.

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• Dreadcentral: Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival is just weeks away, and we've already seen all sorts of trailers and gameplay footage. It […]