Red Barrels
Canadian independent game developer best known for the Outlast survival-horror franchise.
Last updated August 31, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
Red Barrels is an independent video game developer based in Montreal, Canada. Established in 2010 by Philippe Morin, David Chateauneuf, and Hugo Dallaire, the studio was formed by developers with experience at major publishers and development teams, including Ubisoft and Electronic Arts. Before founding Red Barrels, the team had worked on large-scale productions associated with series such as Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed, and Splinter Cell. Their first independent project was Outlast, a first-person survival-horror game released in 2013. Outlast established the studio's creative identity. Instead of giving the player conventional weapons or combat abilities, the game places the player in the role of investigative journalist Miles Upshur, who explores the abandoned Mount Massive Asylum while documenting evidence with a camcorder. Darkness, limited batteries, pursuit sequences, hiding mechanics, environmental storytelling, and an emphasis on vulnerability became central features of the experience. The game's fictional conspiracy involving the Murkoff Corporation, human experimentation, and the Walrider also provided the foundation for a wider narrative universe. The project was developed by a small team in approximately 14 months. According to comments attributed to chief executive Philippe Morin, the studio spent about 18 months seeking investment before obtaining support from the Canada Media Fund. Outlast launched first for Windows in September 2013 and subsequently expanded to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux, macOS, and Nintendo Switch. Its downloadable prequel, Outlast: Whistleblower, followed in 2014. The original game's critical reception was generally positive, particularly for its atmosphere, sound design, pursuit-based horror, and effective use of the camcorder's night-vision function. Red Barrels continued the series with Outlast 2, released in 2017. The sequel retained the franchise's first-person, combat-avoidance approach but moved to a different setting and cast, following journalists Blake and Lynn Langermann in the Arizona desert. The company also issued Outlast Trinity, a physical collection for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One containing the main games and Whistleblower expansion. A Nintendo Switch bundle later brought the early series to that platform. The studio announced Outlast 3 in 2017 but did not provide a confirmed release schedule in the referenced material. Instead, Red Barrels developed a smaller project that became The Outlast Trials, a prequel set during the Cold War. It entered early access for Windows in May 2023 and received its full release in March 2024 for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Unlike the earlier games, The Outlast Trials supports cooperative play while retaining the franchise's themes of surveillance, psychological abuse, institutional violence, and escape. Beyond games, the Outlast setting has been expanded through comic publications. The Murkoff Account ran from 2016 to 2017, and The Murkoff Collections was published in 2024. A film adaptation was announced as being in development by Lionsgate in October 2024, with Roy Lee producing and J. T. Petty writing the screenplay. Red Barrels remains primarily identified with independently produced horror games and with the long-term development of the Outlast intellectual property.
History
Red Barrels was founded in Montreal in 2010 by Philippe Morin, David Chateauneuf, and Hugo Dallaire. The founders had backgrounds in larger game-development organizations and had worked on major Ubisoft and Electronic Arts productions, including projects associated with Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed, and Splinter Cell. Their decision to establish an independent studio allowed them to pursue a smaller-scale project focused on a specific creative idea: a first-person horror game in which the player survives through observation, stealth, and escape rather than combat. That concept became Outlast, the studio's debut game. Development reportedly lasted about 14 months and involved a team of approximately ten people. The developers drew on the vulnerability and exploration of games such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent, as well as the visual language of found-footage horror films. Financing was difficult at first; Philippe Morin later said that the team spent roughly 18 months looking for an investor before obtaining a CA$1 million investment from the Canada Media Fund. Outlast was released digitally for Windows on September 4, 2013. Outlast follows freelance investigative journalist Miles Upshur inside Mount Massive Asylum, where he encounters the consequences of Murkoff Corporation experiments. Its central mechanics deliberately restrict the player's power. Miles cannot fight enemies and must use darkness, hiding places, sprinting, environmental awareness, and a camcorder with a battery-consuming night-vision mode. Documents and recorded events gradually expose the fictional institution's history and connect the immediate asylum crisis to a broader conspiracy involving dream manipulation, human experimentation, and the Walrider. The game expanded to PlayStation 4 in February 2014 and Xbox One in June of that year. Linux and macOS editions arrived in 2015, while a Nintendo Switch edition followed in 2018. Critics generally responded positively to its atmosphere, sound, pacing, and sustained sense of helplessness. In 2014, Red Barrels released Outlast: Whistleblower, a downloadable expansion that follows software engineer Waylon Park and overlaps with the events of the original game. The expansion provides the anonymous tip that leads Miles to Mount Massive and depicts the collapse of the facility from another perspective. Red Barrels announced a sequel in October 2014. Outlast 2 ultimately launched on April 25, 2017, after development delays. It retained the franchise's first-person survival-horror structure but used a new cast and setting: journalists Blake and Lynn Langermann investigate a disappearance in the Arizona desert and become trapped in a conflict involving an isolated religious community. A physical compilation titled Outlast Trinity was released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and the early games later reached Nintendo Switch in a bundled form. The company announced Outlast 3 in 2017 without confirming a release window. Its next released project instead became The Outlast Trials, a prequel set during the Cold War. The game entered Windows early access on May 18, 2023, and received a full release on March 5, 2024, across Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It broadened the established formula with cooperative multiplayer while maintaining themes of experimentation, surveillance, coercion, and psychological terror. The franchise has also been extended outside the games. The comic series The Murkoff Account was published between 2016 and 2017, followed by The Murkoff Collections in 2024. In October 2024, Lionsgate announced that a film adaptation was in development, with Roy Lee producing and J. T. Petty writing. Red Barrels is therefore best understood as a focused independent studio whose identity, business activity, and public profile are closely tied to the continuing Outlast universe.
- 2024
The Outlast Trials full release
[2]The Outlast Trials launched fully across PC and major PlayStation and Xbox platforms.
- 2024
Outlast film adaptation announced
[2]Lionsgate announced development of a film adaptation of the game series.
- 2023
The Outlast Trials enters early access
[2]The Cold War prequel entered early access on Windows with cooperative gameplay.
- 2017
Outlast 2 released
[2]The sequel introduced a new storyline and setting while retaining the original's combat-free survival-horror design.
- 2014
Whistleblower released
[2]The Outlast: Whistleblower expansion launched, functioning as an overlapping prequel and companion story.
- 2013
Outlast debuts
[2]Red Barrels released its first game, Outlast, for Windows.
- 2010
Studio founded
[1]Philippe Morin, David Chateauneuf, and Hugo Dallaire established Red Barrels in Montreal as an independent game studio.
Products and positioning
Independent developer specializing in first-person survival horror and psychologically intense, narrative-driven games.
Video game · 2013
Outlast
Red Barrels' debut title is a first-person psychological survival-horror game set in Mount Massive Asylum. Players control investigative journalist Miles Upshur, who has no conventional combat capability and must investigate the facility while avoiding hostile patients and other threats. The camcorder and its limited night-vision batteries are central to navigation and tension. The game combines stealth, pursuit, environmental storytelling, collectible documents, and a conspiracy involving Murkoff experiments and the Walrider. It was released initially for Windows and later ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Linux, macOS, and Nintendo Switch.
Downloadable game expansion · 2014
Outlast: Whistleblower
Whistleblower is an expansion and companion narrative to Outlast. It follows Waylon Park, a software engineer at Mount Massive who becomes the anonymous source that alerts Miles Upshur to the asylum's abuses. The story overlaps with the original game's events and shows the facility's breakdown from before and after Miles's investigation. It preserves the series' stealth, hiding, pursuit, and combat-free structure while adding new characters and locations.
Video game · 2017
Outlast 2
Outlast 2 is a first-person survival-horror sequel set in the same fictional universe but with a separate cast and plot. Journalists Blake and Lynn Langermann travel to the Arizona desert while investigating a missing woman and become caught among an isolated religious community and the consequences of wider forces connected to the Outlast mythology. Like its predecessor, the game emphasizes evasion, hiding, exploration, environmental clues, and psychological pressure instead of direct combat.
Cooperative survival-horror video game · 2023
The Outlast Trials
The Outlast Trials is a prequel set during the Cold War. It places test subjects inside Murkoff experiments and expands the franchise's solitary survival formula with cooperative multiplayer. Players must complete trials, evade or withstand threats, and manage the psychological and physical consequences of institutional experimentation. It entered early access on Windows in 2023 and reached full release in 2024 for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Game collection · 2017
Outlast Trinity
Outlast Trinity is a physical compilation for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One containing Outlast, Outlast 2, and the Whistleblower expansion. It packages the principal early entries in Red Barrels' horror franchise for console audiences.
Brand decisions
2024
Outlast expands toward filmOtherBackground
The Outlast property had already expanded through games and comic fiction.
Action taken
Lionsgate announced development of a film adaptation, with Roy Lee producing and J. T. Petty writing.
Aftermath
The adaptation was reported as being in development; no release date is established in the supplied material.
2017
Studio pursues a smaller Outlast project before Outlast 3StrategyBackground
When announcing Outlast 3, Red Barrels indicated that it had another, smaller Outlast-related project planned first.
Action taken
The studio developed a Cold War prequel that eventually became The Outlast Trials.
Aftermath
The Outlast Trials introduced cooperative gameplay and entered early access in 2023 before its full release in 2024.
2014
Red Barrels commits to an Outlast sequelProduct launchBackground
The commercial and critical response to the first Outlast led the studio to announce a sequel.
Action taken
Red Barrels announced Outlast 2 and continued development of the franchise rather than immediately moving to an unrelated property.
Aftermath
Outlast 2 was released in 2017 with a new setting and characters.
Sources3 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/red-barrels · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled