Upcoming soulslike Lords of the Fallen has some seriously messed-up, cosmic horror-inspired gods

Lords of the Fallen's developers didn't set out to make a horror game, but the new game ended up being inspired by cosmic horror.

That's according to developer Hexworks creative director Cezar Virtosu, and executive producer Saul Gascon. "We wanted the cosmic horror genre, which is reality warped by divinity. What you would perceive to be divinity. It's just creatures that exist in other planes, that through their influence, they warp and shift the world," explained Virtosu. 

Lords of the Fallen has an alternate reality called "Umbral," where players go either when they drop dead, or voluntarily step into the realm using a portal. It's this alternate world in Hexworks' new game that's inspired by cosmic horror, and it's something that Virtosu and Gascon were "talking relentlessly about" when establishing the new game.

"We took a lot of reference from horror," said Gascon. "[Stuff like] Lovecraft and Olivier de Sagazan. We love it. We're all fans of cosmic horror," added Virtosu. There's a secret aspect to this cosmic horror that Virtosu and Gascon don't want to spoil for players, but suffice it to say it's something nasty, and all about "divinity warping reality."

Lords of the Fallen already looks pretty hellish from the gameplay we've seen, whether inspired by horror, cosmic horror, or both. New gameplay last month showed off Lords of the Fallen's version of Blighttown, and a gigantic boss fight with a truly terrifying creature, the likes of which couldn't have really been inspired by anything other than horror. 

Lords of the Fallen releases on October 13 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

Check out our new games 2023 guide for a look over all the other major titles hitting later this year.