Greetings Reagents!
The time has come for punishment! Reagents must join together to face Coyle in his all new Trial environment: The Prison Farm.
The update also introduces 2 new MK-Challenges, many new features, including Rig Customization, Knife Customization, Loadout Presets, and Mastery Tasks, alongside major reworks to both Escalation and Invasion that significantly improve the overall experience.
This Update Includes
Season 7: PROJECT BONEYARD
New Trial Environment: PRISON FARM
New Trial: LOCKSOCK THE WARDEN
New MK-Challenge: BRIBE THE JUDGES
New MK-Challenge: CANCEL THE BROADCAST
New Deluxe Catalog: PROJECT BONEYARD
Introducing Community Event: BLOOD DRIVE
New Limited-Time Catalog: BLOOD DRIVE
New Ex-Pop: THE BITER
New Reagent Rig & Knife Customizations
New Loadout Presets
New Mastery Tasks
New Hint System
Escalation Therapy 2.0
Invasion 2.0
New Invasion Season
New Blackmarket Outfits
New Twitch Drops
Other Additions, Improvements, and Fixes
SEASON 7: PROJECT BONEYARD
Project Boneyard sees the introductions of our latest Trial environment, The Prison Farm, and the return of Sergeant Leland Coyle in a new Trial, “Locksock the Warden.” Reagents will bring “cruel and unusual” back to the living conditions of the prison population until riot makes way for revenge, while avoiding the latest member of our experimental population: The Biter.
Murkoff is also premiering “Bribe the Judges” and “Cancel the Broadcast,” two new MK-Challenges added to the roster of available therapies.
Reagents will also discover new machinery installed across various Trials in support of the new Blood Drive event. The Reagent community is strongly advised to donate their blood for \[REDACTED].
New Trial Environment: PRISON FARM
The American prison complex; a meat grinder that takes in sociopaths and criminals and extrudes functioning members of society. But the strict routine, severe conditioning, and close quarters serve as a crucible for power dynamics built on violence, contraband, and flesh. Turn yourself in and suffer rehabilitation.
New Trial: LOCKSOCK THE WARDEN
You are freedom. The indefinable promise that keeps prisoners at the grindstone that turns authority to profit and back again. Don't let false authority stand in the way of real capital. Kill the Warden, and we will let you out.
New MK-Challenge: BRIBE THE JUDGES
You are the master, whose property is the purpose of the law. Salary reminds enforcement that their monopoly of violence only exists for your monopoly of capital. Collect the bribes, pay the judges, and we will let you out.
New MK-Challenge: CANCEL THE BROADCAST
You are the butcher, who reminds the sheep the ultimate path of all flesh, no matter the bounty of wealth or the wealth of spirit. Sabotage the broadcast, defile the faithful with blood, and we will let you out.
New Deluxe Catalog: PROJECT BONEYARD
The new Project Boneyard Deluxe Catalog is now available.
This Catalog is filled with 10 pages of new exclusive cosmetic items for your own self expression.
Unlock the Deluxe Catalog using Murkoff Coins, earned by completing the Onboarding Catalog, other Deluxe Catalogs, or they can be purchased in the Murkoff In-Game Store.
Acquire Stamps by completing Trials and Tasks, then use the Stamps to obtain the Deluxe Catalog items.
As a reminder, the Deluxe Catalogs are available permanently. Unlock items at your own pace.
Introducing Community Event: BLOOD DRIVE
Blood Drive season is upon us. Blood Extractors have been installed in multiple Trial Environments. Reagents are strongly encouraged to donate generously. Within Blood Drive Trials, a set minimum donation will be required before Reagents are permitted to leave. Be cooperative, give until it hurts.
Blood Drive is a community-wide event. Murkoff requires a substantial supply of blood for an upcoming project, and every contribution helps advance the collective goal. As the community reaches new milestones, additional rewards will be unlocked for all participating Reagents!
Please note that a minimum personal contribution is required to qualify for claiming event rewards.
Variator “BLOOD EXTRACTION” - Use Blood Extractors found in the Trial to donate blood. Each donation permanently reduces your maximum health for the rest of the Trial.
Using a Blood Extractor at Introductory/Standard difficulty provides +1 blood sample. Using a Blood Extractor at Intensive difficulty provides +2 blood samples. Using a Blood Extractor at Psychosurgery difficulty provides +3 blood samples.
New Limited-Time Catalog: BLOOD DRIVE
A brand new Limited-Time Catalog is available for the duration of the Blood Drive Community Event.
Players can spend their acquired Event Tokens in the Catalog to unlock exclusive rewards.
Once the Blood Drive Event concludes on August 25th at 9:59am ET, the Catalog will be removed and any unused Event Tokens will be forfeited. Be sure to spend your Tokens before the end of the event.
NEW: The final page of the Event Catalog now features an infinitely repurchasable Murkoff Box. Spend Event Tokens to receive a bundle of rewards, including XP, Stamps, and a random cosmetic item.
New Ex-Pop: THE BITER
This update introduces Reagents to our newest member of the experimental population, The Biter. These psycho-sadists, former forced labor inmates incapacitated through acts of self-mutilation as protest, have been physically repaired and mentally destroyed by Murkoff’s doctors and scientists.
Arms removed to prevent further self-harm, Biters are universal sadists, still capable of grievous harm with their mechanically enforced jaws. Though Biters are kept chained by the neck for safety, Reagents should approach with caution, as their augmented legs gift them with unexpected velocity. Biters will be featured in Locksock the Warden, Bribe the Judges, and Cancel the Broadcast Trials for the time being before they are ushered into any other Trials.
New Reagent Rig & Knife Customization
Reagents can now customize the appearance of their favorite Rigs. Access the Mirror in your Personal Cell and navigate to the Rigs menu to personalize their look. New customization options can be unlocked through Catalogs and by completing Mastery Tasks.
Imposters can now customize the appearance of their Knife from their customization menu. New Knife skins can be earned through Catalogs and by completing Mastery Tasks.
New Loadout Presets
Save up to 3 different loadouts and switch between them instantly before starting a Trial. Prepare specialized builds and adapt to any challenge with ease.
New Mastery Tasks
Prove your dedication to Murkoff by completing the new Mastery Tasks. Conquer each challenge to unlock the prestigious variant customizations for the Knife and for every Rig.
New Hint System
A new Hint System has been added to assist both new and returning Reagents!
At any time during a Trial, press the “Display Objective” button to display a hint and a visual marker related to your current Trial objective. This feature can be disabled in the Settings Menu.
Escalation Therapy 2.0
The therapy continues to evolve. Take part in endless escalating Trials or challenge yourself with a new themed Weekly Escalation. Compete for a place on the new Escalation Leaderboards and see how you measure up against the facility’s finest Reagents. How much pain can you endure?
New Weekly Escalations
Participate in new themed Escalation runs built around unique gameplay modifiers.
Every player faces the exact same sequence of Trials and Variators, with only the loadout choices remaining random.
Push as far as you can and compare your performance against other Reagents on the leaderboard.
A new Escalation Weekly Theme begins every week on Tuesday at 10:00 AM ET, at which point the leaderboard is reset.
The first thematic is HARDCORE: “Damage causes permanent health loss and persists between Trials. Syringes are unavailable, and there are no respawns in solo play.”
Refreshed Endless Therapy
It's time for a fresh start. With the launch of Escalation Therapy 2.0, all previous Escalation Therapy progress has been reset, including previous peak records and active save files.
Your previous best peak has not been lost and can still be viewed in your Personal Records through the radio in your cell.
This reset ensures a fair competitive environment for the new leaderboards and removes legacy progress achieved through previous save file exploits.
In Endless Escalation, reaching Trial 21 and beyond introduces an additional challenge: maximum health loss becomes persistent between Trials.
Introducing Leaderboards for Escalation
Compete against other Reagents and earn your place among the facility's elite. Escalation Leaderboards rank players based on their peak Trial reached, with total run time used as a tiebreaker.
Only your best run is recorded. Future runs will not replace your leaderboard position unless you surpass your previous peak.
There is a leaderboard for both the Weekly Escalation and Endless Escalation.
Leaderboard Eligibility:
Players who start a new Escalation run are eligible for leaderboard placement.
Players who join an ongoing run and were not present at the start of that run are not eligible for leaderboard placement.
Players who begin a run but miss more than two Trials before rejoining lose their leaderboard eligibility. This applies to both ongoing runs and resumed save files.
New Savegames Restrictions
To preserve the integrity of Escalation Therapy, we have updated how save files are handled:
Only the host now carries the Escalation save file. Clients can no longer continue a run independently.
Progress is only saved upon successfully completing a Trial.
If all players quit, disconnect, or fail during a Trial, the run is failed and the savegame is voided.
Players still have a 5-minute grace period to rejoin an ongoing Escalation run after an unexpected disconnect.
These changes are intended to prevent save file propagation across the player population, ensuring that Escalation remains a challenge that must be earned rather than shared.
Matchmaking changes
Players using Group Finder with Join-in-Progress enabled will only be matched into Escalation runs between Trial #1 and Trial #5.
When joining a group that is still in the lobby, the group leader may still resume a saved Escalation run regardless of its current progress.
These changes help maintain the progression and competitive integrity of Escalation runs while preserving the ability for friends to continue their existing saves together.
Invasion 2.0
We're reimagining Invasion around its core fantasy: Reagents are prey, and the hunt is constant.
Imposters exist to disrupt progress, create uncertainty, and apply pressure where it hurts most throughout the Trial.
In this updated iteration, survival depends on control rather than confrontation. Reagents must rely on their tools to slow pursuit, create opportunities to escape, and use stealth to avoid detection whenever possible.
Imposters, in turn, are more resilient and better equipped to interfere. However, success still depends on patience, positioning, timing, and strategy.
There's a lot to cover, so let's dive in!
Introducing Imposter Loadout
An Imposter is more than a blade. Equip specialized Gadgets to track, disrupt, and hunt your prey.
Imposters now have access to a dedicated Loadout System, allowing them to customize their approach before entering a Trial. Gadgets can be purchased from Dorris using Vouchers and equipped through the new Imposter Loadout Menu.
Available Gadgets:
MIMIC - Assume the appearance of a Reagent. Become quieter while moving and preparing a Stab. Hold the fake item to blend in and remain concealed from pings.
NEUROSHOCK - Projectile that briefly disrupts a Reagent and disables their rig. Disruption duration scales based on the distance traveled before impact.
STIM - Inject a powerful stimulant to temporarily increase speed, stamina, and gain projectile immunity.
STEEL TRAP - Deploy a trap that briefly immobilizes any Reagent caught in it.
MOTION SENSOR - Deployable device that detects nearby Reagent movement within range.
EX-POP BAIT - Throw to lure an Ex-Pop to patrol the impact area.
New Struggle Minigame
Stabbing now initiates a STRUGGLE between the Imposter and the Reagent.
Imposter: Mash to inflict as much damage as possible.
Reagent: Mash to resist the attack and reduce incoming damage.
A Reagent's remaining health directly influences the outcome. The more injured a Reagent is, the harder it becomes to survive the encounter.
With the introduction of STRUGGLES, Reagents can now actively resist an Imposter's attack. As a result, bottles and bricks can no longer be used for an instant counter while held in inventory.
New Imposter Night Vision
Imposters now have access to their own Night Vision. Unlike the Reagents’ Night Vision, its effectiveness is limited allowing darkness to become a stronger stealth element for Reagents while still giving Imposters a way to track targets and navigate in low-light environments. This creates a more tense predator/prey dynamic during encounters.
Imposter Night Vision drains battery rapidly and does not recharge over time. To restore it, Imposters must retreat to an Insertion Gate. Use it carefully and only when necessary.
Imposters Changes
The Imposter experience has been extensively reworked to support the new hunt-focused gameplay.
Slash damage reduced to 25 (previously 33).
Cooldown between Slashes reduced to 1.5s (previously 3s). While the cooldown is active, Imposters are limited to walking and cannot run.
Added BACKSTAB, a new attack that instantly kills a Reagent. BACKSTAB bypasses the STRUGGLE minigame entirely and cannot be countered. Unlock this new Imposter Chem through Barlow.
Nearby Reagents now display a red overhead indicator showing their name and health. This indicator disappears when the Reagent moves too far away, enters darkness, or breaks line of sight behind an obstacle.
Imposters no longer impersonate a random Reagent by default. To gain this ability, equip the new MIMIC Gadget in your Loadout. MIMIC also provides additional benefits.
Stabs no longer kill outright and now place the Reagent into a downed state.
The group widget is now permanently visible while in Camera View, displaying the status of other Imposters, including whether they are invading or in-camera/spectating.
Reduced score penalties from Reagent projectiles and Rigs. Scoring values have been rebalanced to support the new gameplay systems and Gadgets.
In a situation where 2 Imposters can Invade at once (3v3, 3v4, 4v4), they will now deploy together at the start of an Invasion rather than entering one after another.
Each Imposter now has an independent respawn timer. One Imposter's death no longer affects the respawn time of another.
The “Imitate” Imposter Chem has been removed and reworked into the MIMIC Gadget. All Vouchers and Permanent Upgrade Tokens previously spent on Imitate have been reimbursed.
A new “Backstab” Imposter Chem has been added and unlocks the ability to perform a backstab.
Using a Gadget automatically re-equips your Knife, allowing you to quickly resume the hunt.
In-camera ping time reduced to 5s (was 10s).
Imposters no longer have a timer when they are deployed at the final phase of a Trial (During the Reagent’s “Exit the Trial” objective). They also don’t have the retire when incapacitating or killing a Reagent during this phase.
Imposters can now freely relocate using Insertion Gates during the Reagents' “Exit the Trial” objective. During this phase, there are no respawn timers. Using an Insertion Gate will immediately redeploy the Imposter through another gate near the shuttle doors.
Imposters can now leave an Invasion at any time. Imposters receive a notification when all players in a group reach A+ grade. In group play, the Group Leader can trigger the Exit Invasion option from the Pause Menu. When the entire group exits together, all Imposters receive rewards based on their grade and performance. Leaving alone/abandoning an ongoing Invasion will not grant rewards.
In solo play, Exit Invasion always grants rewards based on performance.
Imposters can make changes to their Loadout directly when in the camera view or spectating.
Active invasion time now changes according to the total amount of Imposters in the Trial.
1 Imposter: 5 minutes
2 Imposters: 3 minutes
3-4 Imposters: 2 minutes
Imposters spend less time spectating/in-cameras between deployments, as they no longer lose health as rapidly as before unless they are killed during their round.
Dev Comment: We've reworked Imposters to better fulfill their role as a constant threat throughout a Trial and equipped them with a variety of Gadgets to support different tactics and hunting strategies. Reagents who stay alert can still evade pursuit and survive encounters, so successful Imposters must rely on timing, stealth, coordination, and carefully planned ambushes rather than brute force. The new tools provide additional counterplay against skilled Reagents, creating a more balanced and engaging predator-versus-prey dynamic for both sides.
Reagents Changes
Reagents have been reworked to focus on survival, disruption, and escape rather than direct confrontation.
Reagents now deal minimal damage to Imposters. Tools are intended for disruption and delaying pursuit, not eliminating Imposters.
Stunlocking or burst damage strategies using projectiles are no longer viable against Imposters.
Getting slashed now triggers a flinch reaction instead of a full body interruption, allowing Reagents to continue moving and fleeing immediately after being hit.
Exit Shuttle doors now open automatically once the final objective is completed. Calling the shuttle is no longer required.
Ping System has been refactored: Reagents can now always ping Imposters, rather than only after an Imposter has been revealed (using Knife). However, Imposters using the MIMIC gadget cannot be pinged while holding a fake item, allowing them to blend in as apparent allies.
Reworked Invasion scoring to reduce penalties and provide greater rewards for surviving an Invasion.
Jammer Rig now inflicts Electric Disruption instead of Vomiting to Imposters. The effect is now applied instantly rather than after a delay.
Dev Comment: We've reworked the Reagent experience to be more accessible to all types of players, providing greater opportunities to recover from mistakes, learn the mechanics, and improve over time. Reagent tools are now focused on stealth, survival, and delaying pursuers rather than direct confrontation. While Imposters can still be disrupted, repeatedly attacking them is no longer intended to be a reliable strategy. Success comes from using your tools wisely, staying hidden, and creating opportunities to escape.
Invasion Mode Maps
Invasion Trial Maps have been reworked to improve the overall flow.
Trial layouts are now more open, with fewer blocked doors, padlocks, and dead ends to support smoother movement and pursuit.
Invasion Trial selection has been adjusted to remove maps with heavy choke points.
All Trials remain invadable with Global Invasion (Trials played from Genesis/Events with Invasion set to “Allow” or “Friends only”).
Invasion General Changes
Players can no longer quit and rejoin a Trial once an Invasion has started. This applies to both Reagents and Imposters. Any player who leaves - intentionally or otherwise - cannot re-enter the same match.
Cross-team communication has been added during Invasions, allowing players to communicate with opponents:
Open Microphone: Press B to toggle between team-only and global voice.
Push-to-Talk: Hold V for team voice chat, or hold B for global voice chat.
This feature can be fully disabled in the Settings Menu.
Previously ineffective Amps now have effects in Invasion:
EVASIVE MANOEUVRE: Win STRUGGLES more easily against Imposters.
LAST CHANCE: Survive a fatal Imposter slash once per Trial.
SELF REVIVE: Self revive after being killed by an Imposter once per Trial.
STRONG ARM: Bricks no longer break instantly when hitting an Imposter.
Global Invasion Rewards: Receive rewards for enabling Invasion. These are now displayed in the Trial Details reward list.
Invasion Matchmaking
Matchmaking has been reworked to better prioritize fair and balanced matches between players of similar skill levels.
The system now considers Invasion Tier, Relapse Level, and Therapy Level when selecting opponents.
Matchmaking criteria will gradually expand over time to maintain reasonable queue times and will continue to depend on overall player population and regional availability.
We will closely monitor live data and make ongoing server-side adjustments as needed.
New Invasion Season
A new Invasion Season has begun, bringing an all-new set of seasonal rewards. All players start fresh and must climb the ranks once again to reach Gold I and unlock every reward.
NEW: Rank Point progression has been reworked and is now significantly faster.
New Blackmarket Outfits
New outfits have arrived in the Murkoff Black Market. Expand your wardrobe with the latest additions available through the in-game store.
New Twitch Drops
Reagents will be able to take advantage of an all new Twitch Drops campaign in celebration of the launch of Season 7: Project Boneyard!
Watch The Outlast Trials streams to acquire exclusive Twitch Drop items from July 14th at 10am ET to August 25th at 9:59am ET. All streams of The Outlast Trials are eligible for Drops. Read more about how the Twitch Drops here: https://redbarrelsgames.com/support/tot_twitchdrops/
Additions/Fixes/Balancing
Players can now use Group Finder to find a group for Rebirth (minimum of 100 Rebirth Tokens for the option to appear).
Completing a Trial no longer grants a random cosmetic. Instead, cosmetics can now be obtained through Therapy Level progression, the new Event Catalogs last page Murkoff Box, and the free daily Black Market Murkoff Box.
Increased the flat XP reward for completing a Trial:
Intensive: XP reward doubled.
Psychosurgery: XP reward tripled.
X-Ray: Pressing the Night Vision input while the X-Ray is active now deactivates the X-Ray.
Added the Terminal Poses that were previously used as the default Reagent animations before the introduction of Pose Customization. These can now be selected from the Pose Customization menu.
Improved gamepad interaction selection in situations where multiple interactable buttons are in close proximity.
Added scoring for the COLLECT EVIDENCE BOXES and DECIPHER BROADCAST Variators. Completing these objectives will now contribute to your Trial Grade.
Any Variator that causes permanent maximum health loss will now persist through revives. Reagents will be revived with their reduced maximum health instead of having it restored to the default value.
Fixed an issue where the Knife would become unusable in Trials with variator “Limited Rig”.
Re-added Salvage Rigs variator in Trial Maker and Escalation.
If you encounter any issues in-game, feel free to join our 18+ Official Outlast Discord Server and create a ticket to speak with our support team directly.
Our team would also love to hear what you have to say about how your playthroughs of Invasion 2.0 are going after this most recent update by filling out our Invasion 2.0 Feedback Survey. We are also gathering feedback you have on the previous Season 6: Project Judas update. Thank you to everyone for your time and we hope to keep adding and improving the Therapy and The Outlast Trials on the whole for your enjoyment!
Catch you in the Sleep Room...
