PocketpairA brand new indie adventure has landed, bringing some epic stars into a terrifying psychological horror all based on the entertainment industry – Dead Take.
Developed by Surgent Studios and published by Pocketpair (known for Palworld and Craftopia), Dead Take looks set to give players a scare, or at the very least an unsettling few hours of gameplay as they explore a mansion with more than just secrets inside.
Complete with live-action gameplay, some extremely famous stars, and a few tricky puzzles, Dead Take is already getting its fair share of attention. So, here’s all you need to know about it.
Release date
Dead Take will be releasing on July 31, 2025, as announced during the full cast trailer on July 16.
Fans can wishlist the game from now, and will be able to play it shortly after the trailer was released.
Trailers
In a rather short yet unsettling trailer, publishers Pocketpair revealed the first teaser for Dead Take, giving us a glimpse at the mansion and that it’s coming soon.
To celebrate the announcement of Dead Take’s lead cast, developers Surgent Studios released a new trailer, highlighting the game’s primary focus on psychological horror as you travel through a rather creepy mansion.
To add to the game’s lore, Surgent Studios dropped two different ‘audition tapes’ by the main characters, Vinny and Chase.
On July 16, we got a glimpse at the full cast in a brand new official trailer. During the trailer, we see more footage of the mansion, a little backstory on Duke, and some rather famous faces in the voice acting world.
Cast
As revealed in the game’s second trailer, we know that the two main characters will be:
- Neil Newbon as Chase Lowry
- Ben Starr as Vinny Monroe
Both will be playing the part of Willie, though there’s no word on what that means or how they both play the same character.
Fans will know Neil Newbon for his parts in Baldur’s Gate 3 as Astarion and RE Village as Karl Heisenberg. Ben Starr is best known for playing Clive in Final Fantasy XVI, Verso in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and most recently, Dorian in Date Everything.
Accompanying them, as announced in the cast trailer are:
- Jane Perry
- Matthew Mercer
- Laura Bailey
- Sam Lake
- Alanah Pearce
- Travis Willingham
- Connor ‘CDawgVA’ Colquhoun
The roles they will play are yet to be revealed, but it’s certainly a star-studded cast.
Gameplay & story
As there have only been a few trailers, there’s not too much known about the gameplay, though we do have a few details about the storyline.
Players will be tasked with finding their missing friend, Vinny. After attending a glamorous party the night before, you can’t get hold of him, so head to the last place he went, a lavish mansion.
As you make your way inside to find your friend, you’re met with abandoned film sets, broken home cinemas, and plenty of secrets containing corrupted video files to splice together and hints as to what really happened in this mansion.
PocketpairAll the while, the house is watching, haunting you as you piece together what happened and discover a side of entertainment only discussed in whispers.
Given that, Dead Take’s gameplay will primarily be psychological horror, complete with puzzles, exploration, and a pretty creepy mansion to explore. You’ll be able to piece together live-action video files in order to make sense of what’s happened.
Think Blue Prince, but horror.
Platforms
Currently, the only platform Dead Take is available on is PC, as highlighted by the end of the trailers, detailing its compatibility with Steam.
There’s no word on whether this will come to console or the Switch 2, and we currently don’t know if it’s compatible with Steam Deck. However, if any more news comes to light, we’ll be sure to update this article, so check back soon.
In the meantime, be sure to check out some other exciting upcoming games, like Mafia: The Old Country, Borderlands 4, Silent Hill f, and Phantom Blade Zero.
