A canceled video game based on the Paranormal Activity franchise has been revived and released for free on Steam under the title Playable Archive. Developed by Brian Clarke, who also created The Mortuary Assistant, the game was initially shelved by Paramount.
Playable Archive centers on a young couple renovating a house and encountering a strange object. The narrative unfolds through found footage, incorporating common horror elements such as rituals, cryptic symbols, and unsettling entities captured on camera. Clarke expressed that the game's resurrection through publisher DreadXP felt like a proper send-off rather than a forgotten relic.
"I have to admit, I was feeling burnt out, and I imagined the project would simply sit on a shelf forever. A forgotten relic of development that sat in darkness while I built up a plan for a new project," Clarke stated in a Steam post. "DreadXP reached out to me and floated the idea of maybe releasing what I had. It felt like a good way of laying the project to rest instead of remaining a lingering ghost. So, I worked to adjust the project where needed and polished up the edges to release the work I had done. I’m sad to say that a good deal of work was still left on the cutting room floor, but I’m proud of what I am able to share and that it is going to see the light of day in some form."
The game requires players to complete it in a single session, as it does not feature a save system, according to its Steam description. Meanwhile, a new Paranormal Activity film, produced by James Wan and Jason Blum, is slated for release next year.