Hunter's Moon Announced, A Folk Horror Game Rooted In Real Witch Hunts
Developer Twin Swans revealed Hunter's Moon , a first-person historical folk horror game, during PlayStation's September 3 State of Play .
The game launches exclusively on PS5 October 26, timed to the night of the actual full Hunter's Moon, and draws directly on the real history of 17th-century English witch hunts.
One Night, One Woman on the Run
In Hunter's Moon , players control Lilith Thorne, a woman accused of witchcraft who must flee through a rural village and its surrounding forests and moors over the course of a single, fateful night. She's pursued by the Witchfinder General, the village magistrate, and a local huntsman, all of whom are determined to capture her before dawn. Survival depends on stealth and cunning rather than combat, putting the emphasis squarely on evasion and observation.
A central eavesdropping mechanic lets players listen in on more than 100 fully voiced village characters through windows and doorways, gathering information that ranges from practical warnings to folk songs and hints about sacred artifacts. The village itself is populated with mummers in folk costumes and a cast of ordinary people worn down by war and misfortune, giving the world a lived-in, dysfunctional texture beyond its central chase.
Grounded in Real Witch-Hunt History
Twin Swans is a newly formed studio made up of The Stanley Parable developers Alicia Conte and William Pugh, alongside Everybody's Gone to the Rapture composer Jessica Curry.
The game takes inspiration from the historical account of Matthew Hopkins, the self-proclaimed Witchfinder General who led real witch-hunting persecutions across 17th-century England, using that history to reframe horror around human fear and cruelty rather than the supernatural.
The developers describe the concept of the "witch" as a nearly universal figure across cultures, one used throughout history to justify persecuting people, usually women, who exist on the margins of society.
Hunter's Moon is available to wishlist now on the PlayStation Store ahead of its October 26 launch.
This story was originally published by GameDaily on Sep 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the Games section. Add GameDaily as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
