Alien: Isolation is the best horror video game based on a movie, turning Ridley Scott’s 1979 film into a stealth game so tense most “best horror games” lists put it above games with no license at all. But the genre has a pattern worth knowing before you buy in: horror-movie game licenses expire, and several of the games below are no longer for sale, or won’t be for much longer.
1. Alien: Isolation (2014)
Creative Assembly built Alien: Isolation around a single, un-killable Xenomorph that learns your habits and hunts the station rather than patrolling a fixed route. It scored 79 on Metacritic from 50 critics and sold over 2 million copies by May 2015, and it has only grown in reputation since — it’s still the game other horror-movie adaptations get measured against.
2. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (2023)
Sumo Digital and Gun Interactive’s asymmetrical multiplayer game puts four Victims against three members of Leatherface’s family, rebuilding the 1974 film’s farmhouse in obsessive detail. It launched to a 73 on Metacritic and has reached 5.6 million total players, with 4.5 million coming through Xbox Game Pass, making it the most actively played game on this list right now.
3. Dead by Daylight (2016-Present)
Dead by Daylight isn’t based on one movie — it has spent a decade licensing killers from Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Stranger Things, and Chucky into one shared asymmetrical horror game, which makes it the biggest horror crossover event in gaming, bar none. But that scale comes with a catch worth knowing if you’re buying it for a specific killer: licenses lapse. The Halloween chapter was pulled from sale on January 19, 2026, and the Chucky chapter is scheduled to stop being sold on November 24, 2026. Owning the base game secures what you already have, but a specific licensed killer isn’t guaranteed to stay purchasable.
4. Evil Dead: The Game (2022)
Saber Interactive’s 4v1 co-op game leaned hard into Sam Raimi’s trilogy and the Ash vs Evil Dead series, with Bruce Campbell himself voicing Ash across multiple eras. It sold 500,000 copies in its first five days and was critically well-received, but official support ended in September 2023, and NME reported it was pulled from digital storefronts entirely in 2025 over licensing issues, reportedly as its three-year deal lapsed. If you already own it, the servers remain up; if you don’t, you currently can’t buy it.
5. The Thing: Remastered (2024)
Nightdive Studios’ restoration of the 2002 sequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 film fixes the controls and trust system that aged the original out of relevance, and critics praised the remaster work specifically. The underlying game still shows its age — it landed at 72 on Metacritic — but the trust-and-paranoia mechanic, where squadmates can secretly be infected, is still the closest any game has come to the film’s central fear: not knowing who to trust.
6. A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead (2024)
Stormind Games built a stealth-survival game around the franchise’s defining rule — stay silent or die — with a noise meter and a stress system that punishes panicked breathing as much as footsteps. Reviews were mixed, landing at 67 on Metacritic, with critics praising the atmosphere while flagging pacing that drags in the back half. It’s the most faithful translation of the films’ core gimmick into a game mechanic on this list, even if the whole package doesn’t fully land.
7. Saw: The Video Game (2009)
Zombie Studios built an original Jigsaw trap for Konami’s tie-in and leaned entirely into the franchise’s puzzle-box morality rather than straight combat, which critics praised even while panning the combat itself. It landed at 59 on Metacritic — a mixed score, but one earned for staying true to what makes Saw Saw rather than bolting the license onto a generic shooter.
8. Friday the 13th: The Game (2017)
IllFonic’s asymmetrical Jason Voorhees game was, for a few years, the best Friday the 13th media has ever gotten outside the films themselves. It doesn’t belong this low on quality — it belongs here because you can no longer buy or play it. A lawsuit between the franchise’s original screenwriter and its producer froze all new Friday the 13th media, the game lost its license at the end of 2023, and its servers shut down for good on January 1, 2025. It’s the clearest warning sign on this entire list: a horror-movie game license is a lease, not a purchase, and this is what it looks like when the lease runs out.
| Game | Metacritic | Status (Oct. 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Alien: Isolation | 79 | Available |
| The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | 73 | Available, actively updated |
| Dead by Daylight | N/A (ongoing) | Available; individual licensed chapters expire |
| Evil Dead: The Game | N/A | Delisted 2025; playable if already owned |
| The Thing: Remastered | 72 | Available |
| A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead | 67 | Available |
| Saw: The Video Game | 59 | Available on legacy storefronts |
| Friday the 13th: The Game | N/A | Unplayable; servers shut down Jan. 1, 2025 |
More Horror Coverage
For a deeper look at how one of this list’s entries holds up, see our breakdown of Silent Hill: Townfall’s endings, ranked, or check our review roundup of what critics are saying about Silent Hill: Townfall.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best horror video game based on a movie?
Alien: Isolation, widely considered the best horror-movie game adaptation ever made. It scored 79 on Metacritic and sold over 2 million copies by May 2015.
Can you still buy Friday the 13th: The Game?
No. It lost its license at the end of 2023 and its servers shut down permanently on January 1, 2025, making it unplayable even for people who already own it.
Is Evil Dead: The Game still available to buy?
No, it was delisted from digital storefronts in 2025 over licensing issues, roughly three years after launch. Players who already purchased it can still play, since the servers remain online.
Why did the Halloween chapter get removed from Dead by Daylight?
Behaviour Interactive pulled Michael Myers and the Halloween chapter from sale on January 19, 2026, when its license expired. Dead by Daylight’s Chucky chapter is scheduled to stop selling on November 24, 2026 for the same reason.
Is A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead scary?
It leans on tension rather than jump scares, built around a noise-and-stress system that punishes panicked breathing as much as footsteps. Reviews were mixed (67 on Metacritic), with praise for the atmosphere and criticism for pacing that drags in the back half.
