Gab Hernandez 
Alone in the Dark’s newest entry has been delayed but developers have given it a definite new release date.
2023 has been a very big year for games. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo 4, and Street Fighter 6 dominated the first half of year. Now, Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Starfield are dominating the gaming industry discourse. They’ll hold that spot until Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey come to challenge them.
All that is to say that 2023 has actually been too big of a year for video games. It’s been so big that developers have started moving their games around in order to avoid releasing too closely to the competition. Given the competition, THQ Nordic’s decision to move its flagship horror title, Alone in the Dark, may prove to be a wise one.
What is Alone in the Dark’s new release date?
Alone in the Dark will be released on all platforms on January 16, 2024, according to the team behind the game. The company alluded to the long list of other titles coming out in October as the reason for the decision.
It’s been a long road for Alone in the Dark. The classic horror franchise has been flying under the radar since Alone in the Dark: Illumination dropped in 2015 to brutally bad reviews. That game, which has a review average around the 20% mark, was the final entry released by the original publisher Atari SA.
THQ Nordic acquired the franchise three years later in 2018. The game is meant to be a reimagining of the original 1992 Alone in the Dark, following in the footsteps of its survival horror cousin, Resident Evil. A demo for the game came out in May of 2023 and developers were seemingly positioned for an October release.
The game is written by veteran horror game writer Mikael Hedberg, who has the critically acclaimed Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Soma in his portfolio. The monster designs were created by Guy Davis, an artist who collaborates frequently with famed horror director Guillermo Del Toro. On top of that, series creator Frédérick Raynal gave his blessing to the remake, praising the developers for sticking close to the core of what made Alone in the Dark so great.
What games are coming out in October 2023?
The likes of Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and Alan Wake 2 are among the heavy hitters coming out that month.
While Alone in the Dark’s remake is garnering interest and is positioned for success, gamers simply can’t play every single release that comes out. The sheer number of big releases in October is going to be rough on gamers’ wallets, and many are still trying to dig their way out from under the pile of blockbuster summer releases.
That’s not even considering the possibility of surprise game releases in October 2023. Given all that video game traffic, THQ Nordic is reasonably concerned about the performance of their unproven remake. They’re not alone either, as the team behind Alan Wake 2 made a similar move.
For comparison, Dead Space (2023) is also a horror remake of a beloved classic that came out in January. It managed to top sales charts in the United States that month. The game was positively received but part of its success came from being the biggest game on the market for a time. Time will tell if Alone in the Dark can enjoy a similar situation.
