At gamescom 2025, the game’s demo came with sick bags handed out to visitors. A year later, its trailers vanish from YouTube about 24 hours after going up.
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival launches Wednesday, October 8 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series and Switch 2, at €39.99 on Steam, with Doug Bradley back as Pinhead. Reviews of Hellraiser Revival aren’t out yet, but the game has already lost its place on the German Steam store.
Hellraiser Revival pulled from Steam in Germany, hidden on YouTube
It all starts with a rating that no longer exists. According to Schnittberichte.com, which relays the developers’ remarks from a video interview with ScreenFire Germany, the USK (Germany’s age-rating board) first granted a rating. It then withdrew it after an objection from a Land (one of Germany’s federal states, unnamed). A second review is reportedly under way, but the developers’ statements remain ambiguous.
The consequences are concrete. According to PCGamesN, the game was pulled from the German Steam store for lack of a rating. Without one, platforms can’t open digital pre-orders. Physical pre-orders at retailers continue.
Saber also changed the game during development to meet German standards. The ability to sever the limbs of dead enemies was removed, and for all players: there is no censored Germany-specific version.
As for promotion, PCGamesN reports that the trailers are « shadowbanned » (hidden without being removed) on YouTube, across several channels, about 24 hours after publication. Some events also refused to show the game. Game director Emil Esov has his own reading: « When you’re trying to showcase the game to the general public, and you get denied in some cases to showcase at some events because it’s too out there; that to me means that it’s too Hellraiser, which means it’s just right. »
Narrative director Antony de Fault strikes the same note: « We want to be nobly provocative. » The team even joked about wanting to get banned in at least one country or on one platform.
On Switch 2, Saber’s position is clear. In an article from FRVR, the studio states: « Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival will contain the same content across all platforms. The gameplay is meant to push boundaries and will not be censored in any way, including the Nintendo Switch 2 version. » Graphical asset changes are likely on the console for performance reasons, but the content stays identical.
In the United States, the ESRB rated the game « Mature » with no changes at all. For a publisher, the racy reputation of a license like this one is part of the promotion, and the team openly embraces it.
What Saber promises: a first-person descent into Hell
Aidan Lynch rides with a biker gang. With his girlfriend Sunny, he gets his hands on a supernatural puzzle box, the Genesis Configuration. He hurts Sunny with it, and the Cenobites answer the call. Pinhead offers to take the young woman to Hell. Aidan follows to pull her away from the Cenobites and their cult, the Scarlet Church. Xalavier Nelson Jr. plays Aidan, and Leader Looi plays Sunny.
Doug Bradley reprises the role of Pinhead, which he played in the films starting with the first Hellraiser in 1987. Clive Barker, the series’ creator, was consulted on the story from the start of development.
With Hellraiser Revival, Saber Interactive delivers a first-person action survival horror game on Unreal Engine 5. Play alternates between combat and stealth, with melee and firearms. The puzzle box grants the hero powers, including telekinesis. Resource scavenging, crafting and puzzles round out the package.
The only published impressions come from gamescom. Lauren Bergin, of PCGamesN, played 30 minutes of Hellraiser Revival: a BDSM-dungeon-style area, then a looping space in Aidan’s house, where he searches for Sunny. Shooting, and storytelling through notes and messages. She calls it her « favorite Gamescom demo » and writes: « I’ve never had a horror game make me think, and that’s what Hellraiser does. »
Jump scares (sudden frights from something appearing abruptly) play a minor role: only one was added late in development. Antony de Fault, the narrative director, sums up the intent: « We’re trying to make people uncomfortable. »
A demo is available on Steam to get a feel for the game before Wednesday. Be careful with early impressions, though: on Silent Hill Townfall, the fall’s other big horror game, press and players ended up diverging.
What to check on Wednesday
As of October 5, no Hellraiser Revival review has been published. Several points remain open:
- how the Switch 2 version holds up technically, for which Saber mentions adjusted graphical assets without detailing performance;
- the game’s length, which the publisher hasn’t disclosed;
- the situation in Germany, where the USK rating remains in limbo.
On Switch 2, it will be one of the most extreme games in an already crowded fall lineup, covered in our breakdown of the September Nintendo Direct announcements. The game launches Wednesday, October 8.
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