Displacement: The Brutal First-Person Horror Game Revealed

Indie horror games have been taking the genre by storm as of late, and another new entry is capturing the gaming world’s attention. Displacement, the new entry by Obelisk Studio, dropped a trailer recently, and the first-person survival horror is eye-popping because of how brutal the game appears. The developers did not shy away from violence and gruesome depictions, which makes it feel both uniquely different yet still maintains the tenets of what many see as the truest form of horror.

Displacement Trailer Provides Blood, Gore, and Intrigue

Obelisk Studio has assisted in games before, but Displacement will be their first independent release. The studio did not shy away from horror elements in this graphic new indie game, leaning into the blood and gore that the horror genre is typically known for. The game received its first teaser trailer this week, and while the game is clearly brutal and savage, with a major focus on combat, the storyline brings some interesting elements as well, with a focus on mental insanity.

As Obelisk Studio describes on Steam, “Displacement is a gripping action-horror with elements of immersive storytelling. You play as a psychologist who finds themselves at a polar station where the staff have fallen victim to a mysterious madness. Keep your sanity — or lose your mind. The choice is yours.”

Fans do not have an exact release date yet, but the game trailer (shared by IGN) certainly does enough to keep viewers interested.

Per the game’s Steam page, there is a lot to look forward to with Displacement. Melee combat is a main focus, allowing the experience to be especially vivid, bloody, and brutal. The game trailer uses the words “ultraviolent” and “brutal” to describe the gameplay. However, watching the protagonists’ slow descent into madness is equally as haunting, and the two combined make for what could be an incredibly memorable, influential horror game.

The game description page goes on to explain some of the key features of Displacement as well, including 20 different weapon choices, a temperature system that is both unique as it is intriguing, allowing for creative puzzle solutions and exciting combat. Challenging bosses will also be present in the game, so piecing all these elements together brings fans a ton of home.

Obelisk Studios gives a full rundown of what to expect from Displacement. From the game’s Steam page (linked above):

“Displacement is a first-person survival horror set in a frozen, isolated world. Explore, survive, and descend into paranoia in a place where cold is your greatest enemy — and reality fractures easily.

Key Features:
🧠 Next-Level Psychological Horror
Madness is not just a threat — it’s your evolution. As your mind unravels, you transform from a hunted victim into a blood-soaked predator. This descent changes everything.

🧠 Madness reshapes the gameplay — what begins as a tense survival horror spirals into visceral action. Unlock terrifying new abilities as your sanity slips away.

👁️ Immersive, HUD-less first-person experience — no interface. No distractions. Just your breath, your blood, your body. Every detail you see is part of the story.

🕵️ Uncover the truth behind the station’s fall — investigate the source of the madness and choose your fate. Will you embrace the chaos and become the monster… or fight to keep your humanity?

⚔️ Brutal, Melee-Focused Combat
Dive into madness and fight to survive in a brutal blood-soaked frenzy, where every encounter is a deadly dance. Use everything at your disposal — fire, ice, fists, and improvised weapons — to take down your enemies in the most savage ways possible.

💀 Three deranged cults, each with their own terrifying followers, deadly tactics, and disturbing traits. Learn their weaknesses — or die trying.

👑 Unique bosses — each battle is a trial by blood, with its own twisted mechanics.

🔪 20 melee weapons — from crushing sledgehammers to razor-sharp blades. Every weapon has its strengths, weaknesses, and distinct combat style.

🩸 Brutal executions based on the weapon in your hands. Death becomes a savage work of improvisational art.

🪑 Turn the environment into a weapon — flip tables, throw enemies off ledges, break, smash, and strike with anything you can grab.

🧊 Dynamic Temperature System and Puzzles
Survive not only the cults that hunt you, but the merciless cold that seeps into your bones. Warmth is life. Fire is hope. Every spark counts.

🔥 Master temperature manipulation — wield a powerful device that lets you heat up or freeze objects at will. Freeze locks, shatter barriers, ignite traps, or freeze enemies mid-attack.

🧩 Solve temperature-based puzzles — redirect heat between rooms, freeze and thaw objects to progress, and outsmart the environment itself.

⚔️ Use temperature creatively in combat — freeze cultists in place, overheat their weapons, or reshape the battlefield with ice and fire. Even bosses aren’t safe from your elemental ingenuity.

🌡️ A fully dynamic thermal system — build makeshift heat sources to survive the cold, warm your surroundings, and manipulate the environment in real time.

Simply put, Displacement has an incredible amount of potential. If the studio can pull off everything it claims it will, there is no question that horror fans will be thoroughly entertained by the gameplay, storyline, combat, and overall atmosphere that this new indie game has to offer.

Final Thoughts

2025 may be shaping up to be the year of the horror game genre. It has been a little while since we have seen so many exciting upcoming entries into the genre, and often even the most hyped games end up underwhelming (looking at you, Callisto Protocol). This year, however, Cronos: The New Dawn, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Directive 8020, The Occultist, and Ritual Tides are all AAA games receiving a ton of attention.

However, even more striking has been the number of indie horror games that are catching players’ attention and pushing the genre into a whole new direction. Mouthwashing and Dredge stand out, but upcoming games like Cyber Rats, No I’m Not A Human, and DO NOT PLAY have also each dropped trailers recently that have received a decent amount of fanfare. While AAA big-budget games often capture the big headlines, it is the indie games, like Displacement, that can challenge the genre and its niche boxes, and fill new gaps in the gaming landscape. If done right, Displacement appears to be on track to do so.