How many people play Outlast? Players, sales and Steam peaks
The Outlast series passed 60 million players by October 2026, with nearly 19 million for The Outlast Trials.
More than 60 million people have played an Outlast game as of October 2026, Red Barrels co-founder Philippe Morin told GameSpot. The Outlast Trials accounts for nearly 19 million of them, and in October 2026 it set a new Steam record of 144,762 players online at once.
Imagine plunging into a world of relentless terror and psychological dread: that’s what Outlast delivers. Created by the Montreal studio Red Barrels, the series set a high standard for horror games where you can only run and hide. Launches on several platforms and stints on PlayStation Plus helped make it a favourite among horror fans. Here’s how big it has become.
Outlast key statistics
- 60 million: players across the Outlast series, October 2026.
- 19 million (nearly): lifetime players of The Outlast Trials, October 2026, making it the best-selling entry.
- 144,762: The Outlast Trials’ most players online at once on Steam, October 2026.
- 400,000: copies of the first Outlast sold in the five months after its September 2013 launch.
- $1.36 million: what it took to make the first game, $1 million from the Canada Media Fund and $360,000 of the founders’ own money.
Outlast players and sales
The Outlast series has more than 60 million players
- The first Outlast hit its first-year goal of 400,000 copies sold within five months of its September 2013 launch.
- It then came to PlayStation 4 as part of PlayStation Plus, followed by the Whistleblower DLC and an Xbox release in 2014.
- The Outlast Trials passed 3 million players in early 2025, GamingBolt reported.
- By October 2026 it had nearly 19 million lifetime players, including those who joined during its time on PlayStation Plus, making it the most-played game in the series.
| When | Players | Game |
|---|---|---|
| February 2014 | 400,000 copies sold | Outlast |
| Early 2025 | 3 million | The Outlast Trials |
| October 2026 | nearly 19 million | The Outlast Trials |
| October 2026 | more than 60 million | Outlast series |
Outlast has proven a monumental success in the horror genre. Both the first game and Outlast 2 were “pretty profitable”, Morin said, and The Outlast Trials, a co-op take on the formula, took the series to a whole new level.
The Outlast Trials set its Steam record of 144,762 players in October 2026
| Year | Outlast | The Outlast Trials |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 3,626 | – |
| 2014 | 2,124 | – |
| 2015 | 978 | – |
| 2016 | 818 | – |
| 2017 | 11,684 | – |
| 2018 | 724 | – |
| 2019 | 645 | – |
| 2020 | 2,049 | – |
| 2021 | 1,345 | – |
| 2022 | 2,028 | – |
| 2023 | 1,559 | 36,332 |
| 2024 | 1,338 | 7,314 |
| 2025 | 1,150 | 28,197 |
| 2026 (to 30 October) | 2,455 | 144,762 |
Highest number of players online at once on Steam each year, from Steam Charts and Steam Charts for The Outlast Trials. Outlast 2’s record is 5,966, from April 2017. The October 2026 spike came with a big Steam discount ahead of Halloween and a surge of players in China.
Is Outlast dying? No. The Outlast Trials quadrupled its own Steam record in October 2026, more than three years after its May 2023 early-access launch, and the series is bigger than ever at more than 60 million players.
Outlast budget
The first Outlast was made for about $1.36 million
- It took 18 months of meetings, and no publisher signed the game.
- The Canada Media Fund put in $1 million, and the founders added $360,000 from their savings and credit cards, and borrowed against their homes.
- Potential partners told Red Barrels they would “rather invest $50,000 in 10 mobile games than $500,000” in Outlast.
- The team grew from 10 people on Outlast to 20 on Outlast 2, released in 2017, and 45 on The Outlast Trials.
Starting on a tight budget, with everything on the line, Red Barrels built a high-impact horror game and published it themselves. The studio is still independent 15 years later, which shows what indie games can achieve.