Lisbon-based game developer Studio Ellipsis has given fans a new look at its upcoming horror hunt game Nightholme with a brand new gameplay trailer. The trailer reveals what players can expecting during matches in the extraction game’s multiplayer PvPvE mode when the game launches on PC and console in summer 2026.
Watch the new gameplay trailer, featuring pre-Alpha footage, in the player below:
The developers have also details some of the key concepts behind how Nightholme’s matches will play out:
- Entering Nightholme
- Players can choose to be in groups or solo and enter the world as a monster hunter, known as a Grimrunner.
- Every session begins in the Last Ground, a Brineheart camp on the edge of town. Here each player will drink Nocturn, determining the archetype they will transform into for that round, and their abilities.
- Twelve players enter every session. Helping another player can secure short-term survival but betrayal is always an option.
- Intent, Not Objectives
- Reasons why a player starts a session can include any of the following:
- Hunt the Gloomfiend (enemy boss) and claim a Terror Seed (High value object).
- Pursue quests tied to factions or figures in the world.
- Scavenge, stalk, disrupt, or grow stronger for a future run.
- Interfere with others and take what they earned.
- Reasons why a player starts a session can include any of the following:
- Power and Its Cost
- Growth comes from action: defeating enemies, NPCs and players, interacting with Altars, and surviving long enough for those choices to compound.
- Starting off as a Grimrunner, players accumulate power and can fully transform into a Grimspawn for immediate gains but at a cost of exposure to other players and enemies hiding in the Gloom.
- Control vs Visibility
- Nightholme is built around two forms with players choosing how to invest in each and when to shift from Grimrunner to Grimspawn.
- As a Grimrunner, players’ goal is control. They track, hide, stalk, and plan. They can fight, but are weaker. Survival comes from positioning, timing, and deciding when to be seen.
- As a Grimspawn, players seek power. Players dominate encounters, but they broadcast their presence and risk further exposure to other players and enemies.
- Nightholme is built around two forms with players choosing how to invest in each and when to shift from Grimrunner to Grimspawn.
- The Terror Seed
- The Terror Seed is the central high-value object in Nightholme.
- It is the core of the game’s economy, escalation, and risk structure.
- Players do not need one to leave but it’s the only way for a build to grow stronger for the next match.
- Lesser Terror Seeds can be converted into currency and used in stores to reinforce builds.
- Greater Seeds carry inherent abilities that change how transformation behaves and amplify specific strengths.
- The Terror Seed is the central high-value object in Nightholme.
- Leaving the Map and What Carries Forward
- Players can exit the map for many reasons: after a skirmish, after a successful quest, after gathering resources, or after securing something worth fighting over.
- In Nightholme, progression is not just gear but knowledge.
Nightholme will be available on PC, and is available to wishlist now on Steam.
