Macabre, an upcoming cooperative multiplayer game from Australian developer Weforge Studio debuted an impressive trailer at the 2023 PC Gaming Show. It’s described as a ‘stealth extraction horror game’ where you ‘traverse infinite timelines’ – and it’s seemingly set in an anomalous version of Australia.
The Macabre trailer punctuated the showcase with its distinctive Australian accents. It depicted a group of survivors encountering spooky things in a snow-covered forest, before being guided by a man named Banjo, a seasoned survivor operating out of a campervan, who seems to know a lot more about what’s going on.
They’re handed a very ominous-looking sci-fi device called the ‘atomic space-shifter’ which appears to allow the crew to shift between four alternative realities of the same place. As one member uses the device on an anomaly in one reality, it seemingly creates a monster in another, which kills one member of the group.
Per the official description of Macabre on Steam, ‘you and your friends will venture deep into an unstable time rift, tasked with uncovering the source of terrifying anomalies. Upgrade your gear, learn new skills, and fight.’
It appears the developer is striving to recreate the single-player horror experience in a multiplayer environment, where the maps, puzzles, and objectives are randomised. You’ll have to solve puzzles in order to collect key items, and escape while monsters hunt the group.
It’s an intriguing twist on the multiplayer horror genre, which has dramatically increased in popularity over recent years. It’s also just nice to see and hear some Australianisms in new game contexts.
Macabre can be played solo or with friends, and is being developed with a realistic style in Unreal Engine 5. Weforge Studio is based in Sydney, Australia.
You can wishlist Macabre on Steam. A release date was not announced, but a demo is on the way.
