London, UK, 5th March 2026 - In 2026, the doors of the fated Blackthorne Asylum will open once more, but this is a place that was never meant to be saved. Dead Boss Games and Evolution Publishing are excited to announce the upcoming arrival of psychological survival horror AFFECTED: The Asylum.
A sanatorium with a long, dark history, many years ago, the line between medicine and madness was intentionally erased. Controlled by a secretive cult, they used the institution not to treat patients, but to experiment upon them.
Through a series of harrowing procedures, patients were subjected to "The Preparation", a systematic process of indoctrination and physical alteration. Through this process, the cult sought to merge biology with belief, creating a collective hive mind using a parasitic entity known as the "Holy Gift".
Step into the dilapidated remnants of Blackthorne Asylum to discover the cult’s crowning achievement and greatest failure: SUBJECT 357. An employee who was forcibly selected for the "Apex Experiment" after falling foul of the leader, the process broke them. However, what remained was something more than human. They now roam the asylum as an ever-present predator, a warped manifestation of the cult’s ambitions.
"With AFFECTED: The Asylum, we wanted to move beyond the tropes of the 'haunted house' and explore the horror of a place that was systematically corrupted," says Kevin Joyce, CEO of Evolution Publishing. "It’s a story about what happens when absolute belief meets an unstoppable biological force. In VR, that sense of being hunted in a space with so much dark history is incredibly visceral."
AFFECTED: The Asylum Key Features:
- Unmask the Cult: Discover the disturbing history of the Blackthorne Asylum through environmental storytelling and salvaged records.
- The Apex Encounter: Survive against SUBJECT 357, a persistent and intelligent threat.
- Desperate Survival: With scarce ammunition and high stakes, resource management, stealth, and critical thinking are vital to survive each encounter.
- VR Terror Redefined: The Asylum delivers a narrative-driven, cinematic experience focused on atmosphere and psychological tension.
AFFECTED: The Asylum is a single-player psychological survival horror experience coming soon to Meta Quest and SteamVR.
For more information on AFFECTED: The Asylum or to arrange an interview with Dead Boss Games, please contact: kjoyce@tinybrains.uk or pgraham@tinybrains.uk
AFFECTED: The Asylum - Press Kit | Discord
About AFFECTED: The Asylum:
Decades ago, something took root behind the locked doors of Blackthorne Asylum. The staff called it treatment. The patients called it revelation. By the time anyone realised what was happening, the outside world had already stopped asking questions. Now the doors are open. AFFECTED: The Asylum is a single-player psychological survival horror experience set within a facility that lost control of its own experiments.
About Dead Boss Games:
Specialists in the field of VR gaming with decades of collective knowledge, Dead Boss Games thrives on making immersive titles that scare and intrigue players alike. AFFECTED: The Asylum evokes the atmospheric dread that all VR fans love.
About Evolution Publishing:
A specialist within the field of XR, Evolution Publishing has quickly built an enviable reputation for its focus on defining market-leading games and apps that highlight the true power and potential of immersive gaming. The team behind titles including Darts VR2: Bullseye, its latest project is the highly anticipated AFFECTED: The Asylum.