No publishers wanted Outlast because they’d ‘rather invest $50,000 in 10 mobile games’ so Red Barrels relied on public investment programs and their own savings instead
Red Barrels faced significant challenges bringing Outlast to market after traditional publishers rejected the horror game concept. According to co-founder Philippe Morin, major publishers showed little interest in horror projects, preferring instead to allocate their investment budgets toward mobile games. With publishers unwilling to back the project, Morin left his previous position to establish Red Barrels as an independent studio with a lean 10-person team.
Rather than securing traditional publishing deals, the team pursued alternative funding sources including public investment programs and bootstrapped the project using their own savings. This approach put considerable pressure on the small studio, with Morin reflecting that “everything was on the line” during development.
The gamble paid off. Outlast has since become an established franchise within the horror gaming genre, spawning two mainline sequels, downloadable content, and an online multiplayer experience. The game’s success demonstrates both the viability of independent horror games and the conservative nature of major publishers’ investment strategies at the time, which favored smaller, lower-cost mobile gaming projects over larger standalone experiences.