The Dark Pictures is an anthology series of interactive drama and survival horror video games developed and published by Supermassive Games (with the first four games published by Bandai Namco Entertainment). Each game is inspired by a different horror genre and features five main characters whose survival depends on the choices made by the player. While each character only appears in one game, face models are often reused across the series, except those of the leading actors. The games use a third-person perspective and allow the player to choose from various dialogue options and courses of action.
The series began with Man of Medan (2019), which was followed by Little Hope (2020), House of Ashes (2021), and The Devil in Me (2022). The most recent game, Directive 8020, released on 12 May 2026. While the anthology was initially planned to consist of eight games broken down into seasons, Supermassive later shifted its roadmap, moving away from the overarching season concept and strict game limit to focus on standalone experiences. A spin-off video game, Switchback VR, was released for the PlayStation VR2 on 16 March 2023.
Games
The series was initially planned to consist of eight games across two seasons, with a new instalment releasing every six months. However, executive producer Dan McDonald stated in April 2026 that the original roadmap had shifted, resulting in the studio no longer strictly adhering to an eight game limit. Supermassive also dropped the "season" branding leading up to the release of Directive 8020, which was originally billed as the second season premiere, in order to focus on the game as a standalone title. By de-emphasising the episodic and overarching branding, the studio aimed to highlight that players do not need to play previous entries to understand the newer games.
Main series
Man of Medan was revealed on 21 August 2018 and released worldwide for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 30 August 2019. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions with enhanced visuals were released as a free upgrade on 27 September 2022, alongside an update for all platforms which included a new chapter, improved U.I., new difficulty and QTE settings, and other tweaks and features. A Nintendo Switch version was released on 4 May 2023. The game is inspired by the myth of the Ourang Medan, a suspected ghost ship from the 1940s, that wrecked after the crew all died under suspicious circumstances. Additional inspirations include the horror films Ghost Ship (2002), Triangle (2009), Insidious (2010), and The Shining (1980).
During World War II, a storm causes a biochemical weapon onboard the American freighter SS Ourang Medan, known as Manchurian Gold, to leak from its crates. The resulting gas causes the crew to see ghostly figures, causing all of the crew to die either from heart attacks or accidentally being attacked by their fellow crewmates. In the present day, Alex and his girlfriend Julia, as well as their respective brothers, Brad and Conrad, and their dive boat captain, Fliss are boarded by pirates. They eventually find and board the Ourang Medan, thinking that the Manchurian Gold is actually gold, although who boards the ghost ship and when depends on player choices. For the rest of the story, choices by the player determines who lives and dies, and if anyone is able to escape the ship after being exposed to the Manchurian Gold.
Little Hope was revealed as a post-credits trailer at the end of Man of Medan and released worldwide for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 30 October 2020. A free upgrade for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S was released on 27 September 2022. The upgrade included enhanced visuals, improved U.I., new difficulty and QTE settings, amongst other tweaks and features. The game is inspired by the Salem witch trials of 1692, but also takes inspiration from a variety of films and games. Film inspirations include The Blair Witch Project (1999) and The Omen (1976), while the Silent Hill franchise is a key video game inspiration.
House of Ashes was first revealed in a post-credits teaser trailer at the end of Little Hope and released worldwide for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 22 October 2021. The game is inspired by the films Aliens (1986), Predator (1987), and The Descent (2005); the book At the Mountains of Madness; and the myth of the Curse of Akkad.
The Devil in Me was revealed in a post-credits teaser trailer at the end of House of Ashes and released worldwide for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 18 November 2022 as the season one finale of the anthology before the season concept was dropped. The game is inspired by H. H. Holmes, America's first serial killer, and his "Murder Castle", as well as various slasher films including Psycho (1960), The Shining (1980), the Saw franchise, the Halloween franchise, and the Friday the 13th franchise.
Directive 8020 was revealed in a post-credits teaser trailer at the end of The Devil in Me. It will be the season two premiere of the anthology. As of mid-October 2022, Directive 8020 was entering production with a lot of data already shot. On 31 December 2023, a short video teaser for the game was posted to celebrate New Year's Eve. The game was released on 12 May 2026 for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S. Creative director Will Doyle described Directive 8020 as "The Thing in deep space". Doyle stated that the game also takes inspiration from other sci-fi horror films including Solaris (1972), Alien (1979), Event Horizon (1997), Pandorum (2009), Prometheus (2012), Life (2017), and Sputnik (2020). Other influences include H. P. Lovecraft's cosmic horrors.
Future games In February 2022, Supermassive Games filed trademarks for six potential future entries. Five featured the standard The Dark Pictures branding, subtitled The Craven Man, Directive 8020, Intercession, Winterfold, and Switchback. The sixth potential title, subtitled O Death, is instead branded The Dark Pictures Presents. In November, Studio Director Dan McDonald said "game number 6 is in its early design phase. Game number 7, you know, we just started that as of yesterday [October 17], in fact. But we've known for a long time what that's going to be, we just started kicking off with the game director working on it." He also said "we're having conversations about what's beyond [Game #8]", while adding that ideas for additional games "have already been kicking around for a while". While discussing Directive 8020, Will Doyle said the advancements in the game's set of tools would carry over into the future games. Although the first four games of the anthology released yearly, Doyle added "we don't want to be tied down to a game every six months or one every year or anything like that" while referring to how Directive 8020 was a big game and the team wanted to treat it that way.
Spin-off Switchback VR was announced on 2 November 2022 and was referred to as a PlayStation VR2 launch window title. However, in January 2023 Supermassive Games announced that the game would be slightly delayed leading to it being released on 16 March 2023 on PlayStation VR2. It is a spiritual successor to Until Dawn: Rush of Blood and contains levels inspired by the first four games of the anthology.
Cast and characters Character Main series Spin-off Man of Medan Little Hope House of Ashes The Devil in Me Directive 8020 Switchback VR The Curator Pip Torrens Non-speaking cameo Charlie Anderson Sean Colby colspan="5" Conrad Shawn Ashmore colspan="5" Danny Russell Yuen colspan="5" Fliss DuBois Ayisha Issa colspan="5" Julia Arielle Palik colspan="5" Junior Chimwemwe Miller colspan="5" Olson Kwasi Songui colspan="5" Joe Roberts Adrian Burhop colspan="5" Alex Smith Kareem Alleyne colspan="5" Brad Smith Chris Sandiford colspan="5" Andrew / Anthony Clarke / Abraham Alastor Will Poulter colspan="4" Angela / Anne Clarke Ellen David colspan="4" Vince Barnes Kevin Hanchard colspan="4" Leonard Carson George Weightman colspan="4" Simon Carver David Smith colspan="4" Megan Clarke Ella Rose Coderre colspan="4" Daniel / Dennis Clarke Kyle Bailey colspan="4" Amy Lambert Louise Atkins colspan="4" Joseph Lambert Martin Walsh colspan="4" John / James Clarke Alex Ivanovici colspan="4" David Milton Scott Haining colspan="4" Mary Milton Holly Smith colspan="4" Tabitha Milton Rebecca Brierley colspan="4" Taylor / Tanya Clarke Caitlyn Sponheimer colspan="4" Isaac Worel Freddie Bolt colspan="4" Thomas Wyman Adam Jowett colspan="4" Balathu colspan="2" Zaydun Khalaf colspan="3" Dar Basri colspan="2" Nabeel El Khafif colspan="3" Brooks colspan="2" Brittany Drisdelle colspan="3" Joey Gomez colspan="2" Sammy Azero colspan="3" Nick Kay colspan="2" Moe Jeudy-Lamour colspan="3" Eric King colspan="2" Alex Gravenstein colspan="3" Rachel King colspan="2" Ashley Tisdale colspan="3" Jason Kolchek colspan="2" Paul Zinno colspan="3" Kurum colspan="2" Waleed Hammad colspan="3" Naram-Sin colspan="2" Sami Karim colspan="3" Nathan Merwin colspan="2" Alex Mallari Jr. colspan="3" Miller colspan="2" Marcel Jeannin colspan="3" Salim Othman colspan="2" Nick E. Tarabay colspan="3" Clarice Stokes colspan="2" Clare McConnell colspan="3" H. H. Holmes colspan="3" John Dagleish colspan="2" Erin Keenan colspan="3" Nikki Patel colspan="2" Charlie Lonnit colspan="3" Paul Kaye colspan="2" Joseph Morello colspan="3" Abdul Salis colspan="2" Mark Nestor colspan="3" Fehinti Balogun colspan="2" Jamie Tiergan colspan="3" Gloria Obianyo colspan="2" Jeff Whitman colspan="3" Edward Bluemel colspan="2" Marie Whitman colspan="3" Kitty Archer colspan="2" Kate Wilder colspan="3" Jessie Buckley colspan="2" Zoe Anders colspan="4" Kathryn Wilder Tomas Carter colspan="4" Frank Blake Josef Cernan colspan="4" Philip Arditti Samantha Cooper colspan="4" Anna Leong Brophy Laura Eisele colspan="4" Lotte Verbeek Noah Mitchell colspan="4" Colin Bates Pari Simms colspan="4" Anneika Rose Nolan Stafford colspan="4" Danny Sapani LaMarcus Williams colspan="4" Kobna Holdbrook-Smith Brianna Young colspan="4" Lashana Lynch Anthony colspan="5" Milton L. Belial / Laila colspan="5" Amelia Tyler Charlotte colspan="5" Clare Foster Claudia colspan="5" Angeline F. Fireman colspan="5" Ed Ashe Robert colspan="5" John Moraitis Scarlett colspan="5" Anne Wittman
Common elements The series is themed around popular horror fiction, with each game acting as a tribute to a different subgenre or trope. Players make decisions on behalf of individual characters before watching their consequences play out. As discussed in Until Dawn, these games rely heavily on the butterfly effect, and every decision the player makes can affect the ending the player can achieve. The games have support for co-operative multiplayer play, where each player controls one character.
Each game is a standalone narrative linked to the wider series through The Curator (Pip Torrens (voice), Tony Pankhurst (model)), a mysterious narrator who addresses the player directly to introduce gameplay mechanics and discuss key choices. The games are further bridged by the Curator's personal haunt, a large library called the Repository, where he presents each game's story as an embedded narrative on the shelves of his study. The Curator is further characterized as an external, supernatural force, who describes himself as somehow barred from interfering directly but nonetheless appears in the background of certain character deaths. There are hints throughout the series that point to him possibly being a personification of Death. The Curator is a continuation of Supermassive Games' tradition of having "narrators" who appear in brief intermissions to give hints or cryptic clues, starting with Dr Hill the psychiatrist in Until Dawn and also later continuing with Eliza the fortune teller in The Quarry.