THE OUTLAST TRIALS AMA (Answers)

[Sphinx]

• How frequently can we expect more patches on performance and server issues?

ALEX: We are continuously monitoring game stability and performance across all platforms, including Xbox X/S, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and handheld devices like the Steam Deck. Ensuring a smooth experience for all players is our top priority. We promptly update the game whenever issues arise and will continue doing so for as long as needed. Regarding server performance, we are aware that some regions may be distant from game servers, potentially affecting the experience. We're actively exploring solutions and will work to improve this over time.

• I want to say I've always been a big fan of the series! I have been a long-time fan since the first Outlast. It's how I met my best friend of ten years! My question is, Will we ever get lore on the Night Hunter? There are files on all the other ex-pops except him, so I'm curious about his lore. Keep up the wonderful work, and thank you for such an amazing game series! Here's to many more amazing Trials! Love you, Red Barrels! See you all in the sleeproom!

PHIL: We’ll make it happen for XMas. It’ll be your special gift from Red Barrels ;-)

• With The Outlast Trials becoming a more diversified experience, does the Red Barrels team have any plans to add more badges/achievements to the game?

ALEX: We recently introduced a brand-new Tasks system, enabling us to provide a fresh set of challenges with meaningful rewards to support various Murkoff therapies. You can look forward to new and exciting Tasks alongside upcoming Trials, Programs, Game Modes, and more.

• Are you planning to release some Outlast merch like plushies and clothes, or maybe something else? (EDITOR’S NOTE: People loved the plush in Philip’s picture and wanted to know more about it)

PHIL: We’re working on it. Stay tuned!

• Quickly gonna say I'm a huge fan of the franchise, and I'm amazed by the direction it's going.
  In the past, you had a merch store present that sold things like stickers, vinyl soundtracks, and the physical version of The Murkoff Account. With how many things that Trials has and how they can easily be made into merch (i.e., the posters), as well as the current success of the game, will we ever see a reintroduction of the merch store, or will it just continue to be released like the Trials vinyl set and the pistachio gin?

PHIL : We tried to manage our own store in the past and it became too time consuming. If the demand is big enough, we could revisit or look for a partner.

• Are there any plans to change the amount of reborn tokens you receive for each therapy difficulty? Many players are unhappy with how long it takes, especially when there isn't any reason to replay more difficult therapy when much easier therapy gives you the same amount of reborn tokens/rewards.

ALEX: The rewards scale with the selected difficulty, ensuring players are rewarded based on their effort in completing a Trial. As for the Reborn, since it’s a key part of the experience and lore, we didn’t want to penalize players for choosing lower difficulty levels or restrict access to the exciting moment of releasing a Reagent into the outside world. Therefore, the number of Release Tokens remains the same across all difficulties. However, we're currently discussing ways to enhance this system to offer more challenges and rewards for our veteran players, so stay tuned!

• I'd like to ask about what I personally think would be an amazing feature. The no radio modifier is amazing. Do you think it'd be possible to see it integrated into the game as a toggle option? Me and my friends find ourselves enjoying the modifier more than the base game prox chat. So fun to be able to talk to only one friend at a time and hear another screaming in the distance

ALEX: Just as Murkoff tests different therapies on the Reagents, Red Barrels tests different experiences on players—that’s the essence of the game. We see our players as test subjects for our wild therapies. Feedback from Trials and Programs has been instrumental in shaping the game, with some features becoming permanent after being tested in a program or event. It's likely we’ll continue this approach to keep improving the player experience. We often receive great feedback on variators, but it’s about balancing and offering something for everyone while keeping certain elements unique, fun, and surprising for each therapy.

• Would Red Barrels ever consider collaborating with Behaviour Interactive to get their own Outlast Chapter in Dead by Daylight?

(PHIL) We would love to collaborate with Behaviour on DxD, it seems like a natural partnership - like peanut butter and jelly. We've reached out a few times.. the ball is in their court.

• I would like to ask about the removed currency that people have been saving for a year+. Would you not plan to reward at least a little for all the lost work of the old players? It is also interesting to know about the events before the release of the game. Will new players receive these awards? There is also a poster for the first program X; for old players, it was obtained by difficult passage of a complicated program, and it was the first coolest poster (and now it can be obtained in an hour of play).

ALEX: With the extensive rework introduced in the Season 1 update, we wanted all players to start fresh. Seasonal Catalogs are permanent (while Event Catalogs are time-limited), and we felt it was important for everyone to begin from the same point to access the new content. This decision was made out of respect for all players.

To facilitate this transition, we granted all previously rewarded but unpurchased items to every player. This also includes Event Items that were no longer available due to time limited availability, ensuring players who missed the purchase window now have these items in their inventory.

For players who had already acquired all items and stacked Murkoff Dollars, there was no loss or unfair advantage. The new content was designed to be part of the updated Catalogs system. As with Event Tokens, Murkoff Dollars were not the primary currency for this update. Converting them to Stamps would have allowed players immediate access to all new cosmetics without engaging in the new systems—like programs, tasks, and catalogs—which would have been unfair to other players and diminished the fun of progressing through the game.

We do not foresee any further changes to this system. However, should any adjustments become necessary, players will be informed, and changes will be made with respect to their involvement and investment.

As for previous Event rewards, they will return when the same event is reintroduced via the Event Catalogs. We’re also exploring ways to offer missed rewards for Events that may not return in the near future.

Since the game is constantly evolving, we expect both the experience and the rewards to evolve as well. We’ve seen a lot of love for our previous posters, so we made sure that all players have the opportunity to acquire some of the best posters from Early Access and Version 1, now that those therapies are no longer available.

• I absolutely love Outlast Trials, it's definitely my favorite from the whole series, since I love the plethora of different characters and maps. I love seeing the little details put into everything in the game, so I'm excited to ask a couple questions about them!!

1. What's the process for coming up with ideas for characters (specifically personality and backstory) and settling on them?

We don’t have a specific recipe. Sometimes we just come up with a disturbing personality (Gooseberry), sometimes it’s more about a gameplay behavior (Franco and his Shotgun) and sometimes we have a theme we want to explore (Coyle and hisapplication of the law).

1. Are there any character concepts you liked but never made it to the game?

We currently have a few ideas on our backburner and concepts made, but not realized mainly because of scope and time. Hopefully, we’ll eventually get them all in the game.

1. How do you plan the map layouts, and why do you decide to create them the way they are?

Sam Bernier (LEVEL DESIGN DIRECTOR): The first step in designing our layouts is to define what will happen in them. This begins by identifying the Prime Asset, determining where the action takes place, and what will provoke them. From there, we establish the main direction and flow of the objectives.
With this foundation, we start building the layout around four key pillars: Replayability, Coop, Fear, and Exploration.

1. Replayability is very important, so we ensure multiple variations for objective placements, player navigation and enemy paths.

We also have plenty of Variators that can alter the layout so we always build our layouts to give the player as many options as possible.

1. We also design with Coop in mind, providing paths that allow cooperative actions, such as coop moves that can be used as shortcuts, while not penalizing solo players.

Objectives will sometimes be multi-step, requiring actions in different areas, which encourages teamwork and division of tasks.

1. The Layout structure has a big impact on the fear factor inthe game. So we like to play with light vs. dark areas, open vs. tight spaces, along with moments of downtime to build tension and anticipation.
2. Exploration is another key element. We design vast and themed sections that transition smoothly between each other. This will encourage players to venture deeper into the layout to discover items, alternate routes, and secondary objectives to name a few.

On top of that, we design layouts with the flexibility to support multiple Trials in it. For example, we design multiple entry and exit points, along with additional areas, to ensure we have maximum creative flexibility for future trials. So by mixing all that together we progressively shape our layout until we can play it with the team, gather feedback, and continuously refine it until we’re completely satisfied with the quality.

You guys are doing a great job at making this game, and I'm always so excited to hear about new updates

• Is there a chance we'll get a true escape ending in the future? I totally understand the team's preference for the story to end on a dark note, but I think more varied endings would make more sense

.PHIL: Did you translate the morse code on the radio? Somebody got out… who knows what she’ll do…

• A long time ago (I can't recall exactly when), Outast Twitter posted something about the "books behind outlast," citing The Origins of Totalitarianism as one, along with a few others. I, and others, can see the influence of that book on the guiding themes behind these games, particularly Trials. I just wanted to ask: what other major influences, whether film, books, art, or otherwise, can you identify as having while designing these games? Any recommended reads?

JT PETTY - WRITER: In terms of movies, there’s John Frankenheimer's "paranoia trilogy," MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, and SECONDS. In terms of books, I keep going back to David Talbot's "The Devil's Chessboard and Tom O'Neil's "Chaos: Charles Mansson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties”. Hugo Dallaire (Art Director) turned me on to Matt Kindt's MIND MGMT comics.

• Will there be any more prime assets in the future? And when do you think the next map will come out? What month are you aiming for, maybe? Will there ever be a map that you actually have to swim in water? It would be funny to see the big grunts swim after you.

ALEX: Outlast Trials is a game that’s constantly evolving. It’s in Red Barrels' DNA to deliver intense, unforgettable experiences and continuously surprise players. We’ll continue introducing new Trials, environments, Ex-Pops, and Prime Assets in the future, but we prefer to keep things under wraps until we’re ready to announce them.

• Will Prescott Whitehorn return? We have the child show archetype (Gooseberry), law and justice (Coyle), mob and crime (Barbi). We want an archetype of patriotism to be corrupted by the good guys of Murkoff. We want Whitehorn!

PHIL: Whitehorn was temporarily sent to a medical facility (owned by Murkoff) to get rid of some weird STD. There’s been some health complications followed by heavy surgery. Murkoff doesn’t know if he’ll make it, but one thing for sure Whitehorn will never be the same.

• Do you guys intend to return to the classic Outlast-type game in the future after Outlast Trials is done?

PHIL: To be able to keep adding content to Trials and start another game in parallel, we first need to grow the studio.

• Are you interested in exploring more and more "behind the curtain" of the facility in future trials/levels to progress the story, and maybe to meet new important characters outside Prime Assets? (for example, the "cave" ending added with 1.0 makes me want to explore this kind of area and maybe try to escape it).

PHIL: Absolutely. We got something cooking in the oven. Just bear with us.

• Were there any real-life inspirations for Franco Barbi?

PHIL : this one is more like a collage of movie references. Also, we really wanted him to feel like a representation of the “son” of Gooseberry and Coyle since these are a mother and a father figure. So, that drove a lot of the decisions.

• Will we ever get an update or more insight into what happened to the protagonists of the previous games? I'm especially wondering what happened with Blake.

PHIL: We have plans, but like I mentioned previously, we need to grow the studio first.

• Are you planning to release movies based on the games in the future?

PHIL: Stay tuned, there will be an announcement soon.

• Really love this game and hope to see it grow more, so what I was wondering is, do y’all plan to add more main villains and minor enemies to the game anytime soon if so any hints? The last thing is, will there be possibly more games added to the waiting room before trials?

ALEX: Thank you for your feedback! We love the game just as much, and the support from players really motivates the entire team to keep pushing new content. We also enjoy dropping hints about what’s coming next inside the game. If you pay close attention while playing, you might spot some clues about what’s on the horizon!

• We've been given Coyle's exact age (he was born in 1923), but our other prime assets' ages are a mystery. How old are Mother Gooseberry and Franco Barbi?

JT PETTY: You should never ask a lady her age. And Franco's old enough for anything you've got in mind.

• Seeing as Outlast Trials has its own story despite being a COOP title set in the Cold War, revealing Murkoff has budget problems, and Easterman is dealing with his deteriorating illness, is there a conclusion we could expect for the story? Perhaps an escape from Sinyala and trying to survive in Outlast 2 locations?

PHIL: Perhaps. Can you please get out of my head? This is disturbing

• Are we going to get any new dialogue for Emily or Cornelius? I enjoyed learning about them, and I can’t wait to learn more.

PHIL : Yes, a lot more narrative stuff will happen in the next few months

What are some of your favorite Survival horror games?

• PHIL: Amnesia: The dark Descent is by far the scariest game I’ve ever played
• ALEX: I love the intensity of horror games, but I'm always too scared to play alone! I'm so glad I can share the experience with friends, like in Outlast Trials or the fantastic Phasmophobia!

Is it possible we'll ever get files of the prime assets like a medical record with name, height, weight, date of birth, family, etc? Cause that would actually be quite interesting too!

PHIL : Noted. We’re on it.

 

[jost0]

I have two questions

*the first question is, Will you guys at a program for MK challenges? because we can't have any access to it without any changes

*the second one is, would you kindly add achievement in the first two games? in epic games store, there are noon

thank you so much for your time <3

 

[MindlessSpaceman]

This is great! Thank you to everyone who answered the AMA questions. I am most certainly excited for what comes next in The Outlast Trials and interesting in the possibility of a movie being made about the Outlast Games. Awesome and exciting stuff all around!