Horror hits differently when someone is screaming in your ear, which is why the best multiplayer horror games are as much about laughing at your friends as surviving. Some pit a team against ghosts or monsters, others hand one player the chainsaw and let everyone else run. This list rounds up 13 picks for 2026, from calm ghost hunts to chaotic loot runs, so you can match the scare to your squad.
Best Multiplayer Horror Games to Play With Friends
1. Phasmophobia
- Developer: Kinetic Games
- Genre: Co-op, Horror, Simulation
- Players: 1 to 4
- Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S (cross-play)
- Release: Sep 18, 2020
- Get it: Steam
Phasmophobia casts you as part of a paranormal investigation crew. Your team enters a haunted location, uses a kit of detection gear to work out which type of ghost is present, and tries to get out in one piece. Voice chat is built into the scares, so a whisper or a creak on the stairs can stop the whole group cold.
Kinetic Games has kept adding maps, ghosts and items since launch, and the locations now include a lighthouse, a high school, a prison and an abandoned psychiatric hospital. Seasonal events bring cosmetics and decorations around Halloween. It is the easiest recommendation here if your group likes teamwork more than combat.
2. Lethal Company
In Lethal Company you work for a faceless employer called The Company, flying to dangerous moons to haul back scrap and hit a quota. The facilities are crawling with creatures of all shapes and temperaments, and many of them can end a run in seconds. Between trips you spend your earnings on better equipment and go again.
The mix of panic, dark humor and real danger is what made it a hit with friend groups. Updates have since added vehicles, teleporters and new creatures, including some mischievous foxes and protective mother birds. Best for crews who like to improvise and do not mind losing the loot.
3. R.E.P.O.
- Developer: semiwork
- Genre: Physics, Co-op, Horror
- Players: up to 6
- Platforms: PC
- Release: Feb 26, 2025
- Get it: Steam
R.E.P.O. sends a squad of up to six into dangerous locations to find valuable, fully physics-based objects and carry them out to satisfy your creator. The catch is that these items break, and a broken item is worth less, so a heavy statue can turn into a slow, nervous team lift.
It shares a loot-and-quota structure with Lethal Company, but the physics play for more comedy. A lot of your time will go into steering oversized objects around corners without damaging them, usually while something is hunting you. Expect to die often and laugh about it.
4. Dead by Daylight
- Developer: Behaviour Interactive
- Genre: Asymmetrical horror, Action
- Players: 5 (4 survivors vs 1 killer)
- Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch (cross-play)
- Release: Jun 14, 2016
- Get it: Steam
Dead by Daylight is the game that made asymmetrical horror mainstream. Four survivors try to repair generators and escape while one killer hunts them down, and every match turns into a mind game of hiding, looping and bluffing. The roster of licensed killers and survivors is huge, with crossover characters from film and TV.
It has been out since 2016 and still draws tens of thousands of players on Steam at any given moment. The learning curve is steep and some players find the pace repetitive, so it suits groups who enjoy replaying the same chase in new ways.
5. The Outlast Trials
- Developer: Red Barrels
- Genre: Survival, Stealth
- Players: 1 to 4
- Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S (cross-play)
- Release: Mar 5, 2024
- Get it: Steam
Set in the universe of the single-player Outlast games, The Outlast Trials puts you and up to three others through a series of deadly experiments. You cannot fight back, so the game is about hiding, solving environmental puzzles and running when something spots you. That helplessness is what makes teamwork matter.
Red Barrels has kept supporting it with new content since launch, including a PvP mode added in October 2025. Choose it if your group wants real psychological pressure rather than slapstick.
6. Left 4 Dead 2
- Developer: Valve
- Genre: Shooter, Zombie
- Platforms: PC, Xbox 360 (backward compatible on Xbox One and Series X|S)
- Release: Nov 16, 2009
- Get it: Steam
Left 4 Dead 2 is a cooperative zombie shooter that takes you and your friends through five campaigns across the Deep South, from Savannah to New Orleans. An AI Director adjusts the difficulty on the fly, so no two runs feel quite the same, and Versus mode lets players take control of the Special Infected.
It leans more toward adrenaline than slow dread, so it will not suit anyone who wants quiet, creepy moments. But few co-op games still match how loud and chaotic it gets with a full team, and it has been imitated far more often than it has been equaled.
7. Content Warning
- Developer: Landfall, Zorro, Wilnyl, Philip, thePetHen and Skog
- Genre: Comedy, Co-op
- Players: 1 to 4
- Release: Apr 1, 2024
- Get it: Steam
Content Warning flips the usual horror goal: instead of surviving, you film. Your crew descends with a camera, records monsters and stunts, and tries to go viral on the in-game video site SpƶƶkTube. The camera has a limited battery, so every clip is a trade between footage and safety.
The best part comes afterward, when everyone watches the recordings together and relives the worst moments. The developers strongly advise against playing alone, and that is fair advice. It is a good pick for groups that want more laughs than fear.
8. Devour
- Developer: Straight Back Games
- Genre: Escape, Horror
- Players: 1 to 4
- Platforms: PC
- Release: Jan 28, 2021
- Get it: Steam
Devour is a co-op horror game where you try to stop possessed cultists before they drag you to hell. Each map is a short objective loop: find items, complete a ritual and survive a demon that grows angrier the longer you take. The studio sums up the strategy as run, scream, hide and do not get caught.
Because rounds are short and the rules are easy to explain, it works well for a mixed group where not everyone plays horror regularly. Expect to share a lot of panicked callouts.
9. Demonologist
- Developer: Clock Wizard Games
- Genre: Investigation, Co-op
- Players: 1 to 4
- Platforms: PC
- Release: Sep 25, 2023
- Get it: Steam
Demonologist is a co-op game where you identify the type of evil spirit haunting a cursed place and exorcise it with your equipment, alone or with a team. It sits in the same space as Phasmophobia, with a more serious tone.
Rather than letting ghosts roam freely in sandbox maps, the developer built more detailed environments where many scares are somewhat telegraphed. That makes it less suited to repeated playthroughs, but it is a worthwhile follow-up once your group has finished with Phasmophobia.
10. GTFO
- Developer: 10 Chambers
- Genre: Tactical shooter, Horror
- Players: 1 to 4
- Platforms: PC
- Release: Dec 9, 2021
- Get it: Steam
GTFO is a hardcore cooperative horror shooter that swings between gripping suspense and explosive action. You and your team push through a deadly underground prison where stealth, planning and teamwork are required, and careless play gets punished fast.
It is deliberately demanding. If your group wants to coordinate callouts and share resources carefully, it can be among the most rewarding games here. If you prefer to drop in casually, skip it.
11. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
- Developer: Sumo Digital (published by Gun Interactive)
- Genre: Asymmetrical horror
- Players: 7 (3 family members vs 4 victims)
- Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S (cross-play)
- Release: Aug 18, 2023
- Get it: Steam
This adaptation of the 1974 film has three players control Leatherface and his family while four others try to escape from various maps. Chases mix with destructible environments, and the game adds to the lore by fleshing out the Sawyer family with new characters from the original film’s writer, Kim Henkel.
It no longer gets regular updates, but it still has enough players to support solo queueing. It is still more fun with friends, and it works best for groups that want a heavier, more brutal take on the 4v1 formula.
12. Aliens: Fireteam Elite
- Developer: Cold Iron Studios
- Genre: Third-person shooter, Co-op
- Players: 3
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- Release: Aug 23, 2021
- Get it: Steam
Aliens: Fireteam Elite puts squads of three Colonial Marines against waves of Xenomorphs across a series of missions. It is built in the vein of Left 4 Dead, so positioning and coordination decide who survives, and there are plenty of guns and cosmetics to unlock along the way.
The strongest part is the atmosphere. Shadowy industrial corridors and hive-like chambers capture the look and sound of the Alien universe. It is more action than dread, so pick it if you want to shoot your way through the scares.
13. Halloween: The Game
- Developer: IllFonic
- Genre: Asymmetrical horror
- Players: 5 (4 survivors vs 1 killer)
- Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S (cross-play)
- Release: Sep 8, 2026
- Get it: Steam
Halloween: The Game is the latest horror film franchise to make the jump to games. Like Dead by Daylight it plays as a 4v1, with matches lasting up to 20 minutes, or less if whoever plays Michael Myers is especially deadly. Survivors must also convince, arm and hide NPC residents who start out unaware a killer is loose, then get them to an exit.
That NPC layer makes every match play out like a small horror story. It is also the riskiest pick here: Steam reviews sit at Mixed, so it is better as a second 4v1 for Halloween fans than as your group’s first.
Which Multiplayer Horror Game Should You Play First?
If you want the safest start among the best multiplayer horror games, begin with Phasmophobia for slow-burn teamwork or Lethal Company and R.E.P.O. for loud, funny loot runs. Pick Dead by Daylight when someone wants to play the killer, and Left 4 Dead 2 or Aliens: Fireteam Elite when your group would rather shoot than hide. GTFO is the one to skip unless everyone is ready to plan.