There’s a strange, magnetic charm in the sound of a tape rewinding, in the flicker of a VHS coming to life on screen. It’s within that forgotten analog aesthetic that Dead Format is born, the new first-person survival horror developed by the Scottish studio Katanalevy and published by Oro Interactive.
Expected to release on PC Windows by the end of 2025, Dead Format throws us into a nightmare made of distortions, VHS recordings, and worlds unfolding behind the screen, where every videotape becomes a doorway to a different kind of horror, and perhaps, to a memory that was better left untouched.
Every tape is a doorway
The demo begins in the house of the protagonist’s missing brother. Among scattered notes and scraps of paper, a message mentions a “birthday present” to find. It’s the first clue that leads to the discovery of the first videotape, the key to entering an alternate world, a fragment of a horror film that comes to life before your eyes.
The mechanic is simple yet fascinating: each tape opens a new reality, and within that reality, you can find others to combine and create the next cassette. It’s a structure that blends puzzles, exploration, and storytelling, though for now, the demo only hints at its true potential.
The Flesh Gun: flesh, bone, and nightmares
Among the most disturbing images in this short preview is the Flesh Gun, a weapon literally made of flesh and bone.
Its grotesque aesthetic is no coincidence: it’s a clear homage to David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, where the line between flesh and technology dissolves into a nightmare of mutations and living media.
Just like in the film, Dead Format explores that unsettling fusion between body and machine, between reality and representation. only here, the medium isn’t television, but the VHS tape.
It’s a powerful symbol: Dead Format doesn’t aim to scare you only with jump scares and monsters lurking around the corner — though the tension is always there, but rather to disturb you with ideas, with the body, and with the visual imagery of analog cinema.
Short, but promising
The demo is truly brief, just enough time to solve a few puzzles, feel the tension of the unknown, and realize there’s a much larger universe behind that flickering TV in the dark.
It’s still unclear how well the videotape mechanic will hold up over time, but Katanalevy’s artistic direction and the meticulous VHS-style presentation leave a strong impression.
Dead Format is a tribute to fear born of static, distortion, and lost memories, a nightmare staring back at you through the eyes of the past.
Waiting to rewind
Dead Format isn’t a full-length feature yet, but its teaser already leaves a mark. If the final version expands on the cassette structure while blending puzzles, storytelling, and psychological tension, we may be looking at one of the most original indie horror games of 2025.
Dead Format is developed by Katanalevy, a small independent Scottish studio known for its artistic and experimental approach to the horror genre, and published by Oro Interactive, a label that supports indie projects combining strong aesthetics with a distinct authorial identity.
Play the demo on Steam or itch.io and get ready to rewind the fear.
