From Press Release:
MONTRÉAL, Québec — December 9th, 2025 — Sister Liliya is on a mission from God to absolve you of your sins… but can you pay the price? Find out in The Outlast Trials’ Project Messiah, where the newest Prime Asset haunts the snowcapped opulence of The Resort, the newest trial environment—offering a new trial and MK-Challenges, along with her own exclusive Deluxe Catalog, befitting the darkness of cold winter nights. Season 5 also reintroduces the limited-time event, WINTER KILLS: an experimental form of therapy purposefully set in hostile, unstable environments, rich in both punishment and rewards. The new Permafrost variant will chill the blood of any Reagent to the bone… but fret not, for Papa Murkoff will always have a cup of hot cocoa at the ready.
Each of the following WINTER KILLS Variators are now available to all Reagents:
- PERMAFROST — Permanent freezing temperature in the Trial. Locate heat sources to stay warm.
- FROST MINES — Gas mines have been replaced with Frost Mines.
- COLLECT THE GIFTS — Collect all the gifts in the Trial to earn extra rewards.
As well, the WINTER KILLS Event will take place in two distinct sequences:
- Part 1 — December 9, 2025 @ 10am ET — December 23, 2025 @ 9:59am ET
- Part 2 — December 23, 2025 @ 10am ET – January 6, 2026 @9:59am ET
And don’t forget to browse the Limited-Time Catalog for WINTER KILLS, available solely for the duration of the Event and featuring exclusive cosmetics and other items. These items can be acquired by exchanging Event Tokens, and access is free to all players through the duration of the event. And as an extra bonus, several new items are now available for purchase in the Murkoff Store, including 11 brand-new Deluxe Outfits and the Event Catalog “Prime Time (2025)”. As well, streamers can enjoy a selection of Twitch Drops, exclusively available from Dec 9th to January 26th.
Season 5 also provides a comprehensive update to the recently-introduced PvP Invasion mode, including revamped gameplay, fine-tuned objectives for Imposters, balancing for both Imposters and Reagents, and the addition of new Seasonal Rankings. This ranking system offers unique rewards for participating in Invasion mode: completing matches raises your Invasion Rank, whether playing as Imposter or a Reagent, and the grade received at the end of each Trial determines the total amount of Rank Points awarded.
Along with a horde of quality of life improvements and fixes, Season 5 of The Outlast Trials offers a grisly blizzard of wintertime horror to warm the blood against the December chill. But Project Messiah is only the beginning: the New Year will bring with it the chance to relive the most effective of Murkoff’s therapies. Flashback Therapy offers Reagents to once again undergo the most extreme treatments—including Toxic Shock, Deep Burn, and many others—and will arrive in early 2026.
Stay tuned for more updates, and be sure to follow the ongoing dark mysteries of The Outlast Trials universe on Red Barrels’ Website, Instagram, Bluesky, X (Twitter), Discord, Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook.
The Outlast Trials is the third installment in Red Barrels’ critically acclaimed psychological horror series. In 4-player co-op, complete escape room-style puzzles while avoiding the twisted victims of Murkoff’s experiments using a combination of stealth, speed, and teamwork. In a unique blend of survival horror and online escape room, The Outlast Trials challenges players with Aperture Science-style tests that Jigsaw himself would shudder at. Complete Trials, return to your cell, upgrade your therapies, and steel your nerves to face horrors beyond your imagination.
Set in 1959 at the height of the Cold War, human guinea pigs are involuntarily recruited to test advanced methods of mind control in their nightmare facility. Crush your morals and test your sanity on the path to rebirth as one of Murkoff’s Reagents while discovering the secret documents littered throughout the facility.
Red Barrels
Red Barrels is the studio behind the immersive indie horror series Outlast, a series that has terrified almost 45 million players worldwide. Based in Montréal, Red Barrel’s mission is to create unforgettable experiences that leave the player’s blood running cold. Red Barrels was founded by Philippe Morin (Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Assassin’s Creed, and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune), David Chateauneuf (Lead level designer: Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Assassin’s Creed, and Splinter Cell: Conviction), and Hugo Dallaire (Art Director: Splinter Cell and Army of Two).
