Voidwood Is a Co-Op Survival Horror Game Where Shouting Gets You Killed

Santa Barbara Games, a new studio made up of veterans from Bethesda, Riot, EA, and other developers, has announced its debut title: Voidwood, a 1-4 player fantasy co-op survival horror game coming to PC in 2027.

Players take on the role of children stranded in a cursed forest. The loop splits into two phases — daytime scavenging and crafting to gather supplies, and nighttime survival against The Beast, an unkillable monster that hunts by sound. Proximity chat is central to the design: whispering is the smart play, and raising your voice risks drawing The Beast straight to you. You can hide in bushes as long as you stay quiet, and your camp offers some safety thanks to firelight keeping lower-tier monsters at bay — though The Beast will charge in without hesitation if it spots you there. Runs last 20-30 minutes each, and there is meta progression to develop your character across longer play sessions. The game also allows for a ruthless edge: you can deliberately sacrifice a fourth player to secure the other three's escape.

Voidwood's art style draws clear inspiration from Studio Ghibli, which makes the horror premise a striking contrast — bright, painterly visuals wrapped around a tense, predator-driven survival loop. Santa Barbara Games is a new studio, but the pedigree behind it spans some of the biggest names in the industry, which gives the project immediate credibility. The sound-based stealth mechanic puts it in the same conversation as games like Alien: Isolation or Phasmophobia, where noise discipline is survival discipline.

Voidwood is currently on Steam for wishlisting ahead of its 2027 PC launch. No console versions have been announced.