The PlayStation Blog reveals the release date for psychological horror game Layers of Fear, pegging the game for a February 16th release on PlayStation 4.

Layers of Fear is one of the most intriguing new horror games releasing this year, and has certainly captured our attention. So much so, in fact, that we included it on our list of Most Anticipated Horror Games of 2016. When that was written up, Layers of Fear's release date was a complete unknown, but now Sony has spilled the beans, outing the game's release date as February 16th on the PlayStation 4.

This news comes courtesy of a PlayStation Blog post from Rafal Basej of Bloober, the developer behind Layers of Fear. Described as a psychological horror game, Layers of Fear puts players in control of an anonymous painter that is slowly slipping into madness while trying to complete his greatest painting yet.

Like most popular entries in the horror genre as of late, the game is a first-person adventure filled with puzzles and visual tricks to keep players engaged. For example, the painter may enter a room with numerous doors that are all locked, only to turn around and discover the doors are now missing, or were perhaps never there. The room then appears to shrink, and suddenly another door materializes, allowing the painter to escape before being crushed. Overall, it promises to be a "psychedelic" experience, and will challenge what players expect from a game of this nature.

[HTML1]

What's interesting about this announcement is that, until now, Layers of Fear was barely marketed as a PS4 release. The game has been available to play on PC and Xbox One thanks to the Xbox Preview Program and Steam Early Access for quite some time, so it would be logical to assume that it would see a full release on those platforms before hitting the PS4, but that is apparently not the case.

It's possible that the Xbox One and PC versions of the game will indeed enjoy a full release on February 16th as well, but that hasn't been clarified just yet. The more likely scenario is that Sony secured the exclusive release date announcement, and more news about a multi-platform release is in the works.

Layers of Fear looks as though it will be a solid addition to 2016's impressive lineup of horror games. The title seems to be partially inspired by the Silent Hills playable teaser P.T. in its presentation, but calls to mind BioShock with its focus on story. It will be interesting to see if Layers of Fear lives up to the legacy of either of those games when it releases next month, or if it will ultimately be overshadowed by similar games releasing this year, such as the P.T.-inspired Allison Road.

Layers of Fear will be available on February 16th for PlayStation 4. Possible Xbox One and PC release dates have yet to be confirmed.

Source: PlayStation Blog