PlayStation Australia is delighted to share that Until Dawn, rebuilt and enhanced, will be launching on PS5 on 4 October and PC on 5 October 2024 (AEST).

In 2015, Until Dawn solidified itself as a genre-defining game that captured many of our hearts, whether that was because of its web of interconnected decisions, diverse branches, memorable characters or an engaging and often terrifying story. Once again, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) invites players back to spend the night on Blackwood Mountain.

As a team of Until Dawn fans and horror lovers, Ballistic Moon’s intention has not been to alter the events of that fateful night. Instead, the team has focused on giving the original game a cinematic update, offering the player a more intimate experience by enhancing the visual storytelling.

Overhauled visuals rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5

The new Until Dawn experience has been built from the ground up using Unreal Engine 5. The team has updated character models, environments, interactable props, visual effects, and animations, all designed to maximise the Until Dawn experience on both PS5 and PC.

Ballistic Moon has completely relit the game to take advantage of Unreal Engine 5’s rendering features, including raytracing and enhanced materials, focusing on a more atmospheric and “modern horror” experience.

One of the key visual improvements for Until Dawn has been around revisiting the character models and bringing them in line with modern advances in character modeling and rendering. Improvements to textures, materials, rendering and animation performance have all contributed to higher fidelity characters that will resonate with both new players and existing fans of the game.

Ballistic Moon used modern pre-rendering simulation techniques to create more realistic real time fluids and players can see all the gory glory of this particularly in the updated character deaths. The is also an update the injury mask system which allows players to clearly see elements like cuts, bruises, tears, snow and water to the character’s bodies.

Revised cinematography, production design & new camera control mechanic

By using a combination of fixed and over-the-shoulder camera views, players can now see the world of Until Dawn from entirely new perspectives. Blending the cinematography of the original with the introduction of a modern third-person camera, Ballistic Moon breathes new life to characters and locations. The camera’s flexibility allows the team to place new emphasis on important moments and tell the story from a view closer to the characters.

Reworked prologue

Although Ballistic Moon has committed to keeping the original narrative intact, the team felt the Prologue would benefit from some adjustments to its narrative pacing. The team gave the Washingtons extra screen time to explore their close family bond and get to know them a little better and also reframed some of the original scenes and developed the context around the infamous prank, in the effort to enhance its emotional impact.

New collectibles

For the collectors and explorers, keep your eyes peeled because Ballistic Moon has relocated all the original totems to be found all over again. The team has also added Hunger totems, a special new type of totem that holds a different kind of vision to the others. The game has also been sprinkled with new interactions and small new areas that hold them. This adds extra context and detail to the world of Until Dawn and rewards player exploration.

Customisable settings

The team are proud to implement new accessibility and usability settings that will help more players enjoy the game. Additionally, Ballistic Moon has created a new optional alternative for the Don’t Move mechanic called Stay Calm. Stay Calm is for third party peripherals that do not feature a gyroscope or for players who prefer a different challenge.

The Ballistic Moon and SIE teams can’t wait for players to experience the horrors of Until Dawn when it launches on PS5 console on 4 October and PC on 5 October 2024 (AEST)! Pre-order from Wednesday, 21 August.

To learn more about the Until Dawn remaster, visit the PlayStation Blog.