At first, only a few streamers who were familiar with Nebula Games started streaming Outlast in Shark TV's gaming section.
But after a few streams, people realized the game actually worked really well for content—it boosted both viewer numbers and popularity. When they streamed Outlast, the chat was filled with non-stop messages.
So it naturally attracted more streamers to join in. After all, this is their job, and Outlast was clearly perfect for streaming.
If you clicked into any random stream, you'd basically hear someone screaming like their life depended on it.
"I'm done! I'm not playing anymore! The closet just moved!"
"No! Please! I'm sorry! Spare me, please!"
"Why is this fat guy chasing me again?! How do I get out of this damn sewer?!"
"The women's ward wants me to find fuses? In pitch black?! I'm out of batteries! Who knows the way?! Help me!"
"Where's the gun?! Why isn't there a gun?! Just give me a gun already!"
"Holy crap, I swear! That guy in the wheelchair nearly gave me a heart attack! You just sat there doing nothing, and then scared the hell out of me when I walked past!"
Every streamer who played Outlast was basically screaming bloody murder the whole time.
You could grab a screenshot from any stream, and it would make for perfect meme material.
At the same time, people who watched but didn't know much about Outlast started to get curious.
Just like those folks on the forums earlier, they all had the same thought: Is this game really that scary?
But the moment they tried it for themselves, they were completely stunned.
Because it was way scarier than they imagined.
If it was just jump scares—like those "open the door, boom!" moments—that'd be fine. You get used to those.
But Outlast isn't just about jump scares.
It combines visual horror, shock scares, and psychological fear into one terrifying experience.
Jump scares are a common horror element in both Eastern and Western horror—like things suddenly jumping out at you or appearing when you turn around.
Visual horror leans more toward Western horror—it's about disturbing visuals, like blood and gore.
In Outlast, things like the soldier impaled on a metal pipe at the start or the scene with the finger-cutting—those are textbook visual horror.
As for psychological horror, that's more common in Eastern horror. It plays on the fear of the unknown and makes players doubt themselves.
Things like basements, women's wards, and sewers—dark places where you're constantly being hunted and can only see using a camcorder—are perfect examples of psychological horror design.
Outlast manages to combine all three kinds of fear really well.
Plus, the fact that you play as a journalist who can only run and never fight back…
That just makes you feel even more helpless.
God knows how hopeless it feels when a monster is chasing you, and your camera runs out of batteries.
For a while, tons of players were haunted by the shadow of that creepy place called Mount Massive Asylum.
...
Thanks to the streamers and the growing number of players "generously recommending" the game...
Its popularity and discussion rate shot through the roof.
At first, it just spread through horror game forums.
After that, the popularity of Outlast started skyrocketing across major gaming communities and forums.
They were flooded with player discussions.
"Damn it, I'm cutting ties with my friend! He said it was only a little scary? I almost died!"
"Man, I'm so embarrassed. I bought the game but didn't even dare go past the front gate of Mount Massive Asylum!"
"LMAO, hold up bro, you're not the only one who never got past the gate!"
"Haha, same here. I just wandered around outside for a bit, then shut the game off and went to watch videos instead."
"Is it really as crazy as you guys are saying? I think it's pretty easy!"
"What's so scary about it? I already beat the game!"
"You two up there, can you please unlink your accounts from the official platform before talking? One of you played for 7 minutes, the other for 5. What exactly did you beat?"
"Hey, I bought the game and didn't refund it. Plus, I watched videos and streams—so I basically know the whole story. That counts as finishing the game, right?"
"Damn... I seriously have nothing to say to that."
"To be fair, the game is way too short. Let me give the newcomers a quick summary: First, you launch the game, go through the front yard, crawl through a dog hole on the left, then climb in through the window. And finally, you shut the game off and watch Outlast playthroughs on video sites."
With all the players actively talking about it, Outlast's popularity quickly kept rising.
At the same time, sales also exploded.
More and more people who had never heard of it became curious about the game.
Of course, most of them got scared out of their minds.
And there were tons of refund requests too.
But still, even with that, there were plenty of players who bought the game and didn't bother refunding it.
Those players were also supporting the game company in their own way.
With such a huge player base,
Outlast still pulled off some impressive sales.
But right around that time, someone brought up an old quote, and it quickly picked up traction across all the gaming forums.
It was something Lucas once said in an interview when he won first prize in the "Sci-Fi Game Competition."
> "After all, I've always seen myself as a warrior of love."
That quote suddenly went viral in the Outlast community.
"Dude, how the hell did Lucas say that with a straight face?"
"Never would've guessed that after making To the Moon, Lucas would go on to drop Outlast."
"A warrior of love? THIS is what you call a warrior of love??"
"Lucas, your game is this terrifying—do you even dare play it yourself?"
"Exactly! There's not even a hint of love in Outlast, man!"
Players started flooding Lucas's official blog with comments.
The contrast was just too much.
One minute he's calling himself a warrior of love, and the next he releases a game that can make you piss your pants.
There's seriously zero love in this game!
But even though people were talking like that, most of it was just hype and people jumping in for fun.
What no one expected, though, was that Lucas actually responded on his blog.
And that's where things really started…
(End of this chapter)
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