Pocketpair Publishing and developer Surgent Studios have revealed Dead Take, their previously teased psychological horror game that will “peel back the entertainment industry’s glittering facade to expose its darkest secrets.” 

Dead Take is in development for Windows PC (via Steam) with a release set for later in 2025. The game’s lineup of actors will be revealed in the coming weeks.

“We’re being secretive for a reason,” said Abubakar Salim, CEO of Surgent Studios in a press release. “The subject matter of this game is delicate, and it hits close to home. When it comes out, and it won’t be long until it does, I want players to think, ‘I can’t believe they actually did this.”

Here’s a rundown on the game, plus a teaser trailer:

Find your missing friend. Uncover the secrets within.

In Dead Take, you play as an actor who becomes uneasy when your friend won’t answer the phone. Delve into the gilded rot of the entertainment industry and show up at the last place he was before he went quiet: a dark, opulent mansion.

Haunted by mysterious humanlike figures, you advance into the house by solving object-based puzzles and splicing together the video clips you find along the way. Oddly quiet for the site of a glamorous party just hours before, the house is now populated by the figures that seem to turn up where you least expect them.

As you advance toward the heart of the mansion, the fate of your friend rests in your hands. Will you find him and uncover the truth about what happened last night?

Feed me something real

Key Features

• Step into an actor’s shoes
  • Set out on a haunting single-player story shaped by real experiences in the entertainment industry, discovering the monstrous cost of creation for yourself.
  • As the actor, make your way through the mansion to piece together the story of how far a powerful executive will go to seal his legacy. Peer into the dark corners of the houses and of your own mind alongside strange humanlike figures that seem to haunt your steps.
• Uncover the secrets of the mansion
  • Solve object-based puzzles to progress deeper into the house, from the front gate all the way to the home cinema.
  • As you advance, discover and edit together the video clips you find to unravel what really happened within these walls.
  • Creep through hallways and up or down staircases to progress through the grand foyer, art gallery, audition room and more in this single-player first-person psychological horror.
• Peel back the glittering façade
  • Discover a side of the entertainment industry only discussed in whispers, full of cruelty and sordid gossip, memories of roles gone wrong, unsettling audition tapes and shadowy figures with the power to make or break your career.
  • Make your way through opulent and meticulously hand-crafted 3D rooms, full of tools and props inspired by real-world film sets, accompanied by composer Ross Tregenza’s chilling original score.