Cults and good news don't usually mesh well together, and the same is true even for fictional ones in video games. Cults are even quite common in video games as villains or enemy groups. That shows just how menacing and horrific they usually are with games like Cult of the Lamb giving players a taste of how some of these Satanic cults work.
However, try as they might, the player's cult in Cult of the Lamb is but a mere cute caricature of what the other video game cults are capable of. The worst among them — especially those led by humans instead of evil anthropomorphic animals — are nauseating pits of evil whose crimes will more than disgust and terrify players. The following video game cults are the very worst offenders.
8 Testament of the New Ezekiel - Outlast 2
Outlast is no stranger to horrific imagery and its sequel, Outlast 2 pushes the bar higher by letting players loose in a countryside riddled with members of the Testament of New Ezekiel instead of an asylum. Given how these cultists operate, some might even prefer the previous game's asylum.
That's because the Testament of New Ezekiel is comprised of systematic child murderers. Their original goal is to prevent the Anti-Christ from being born, which is an extremist religious view, but, somehow, that got twisted into deplorable crimes against humanity such as sexual assault, abduction, and occasionally mutating into a grotesque monstrosity to complete the circle.
7 Unitology - Dead Space 2
Dead Space 2 expands upon the previous game's lore by showing players just how much the existence of Necromorphs impacted the human species on other planets. From the ashes of the first game sprung a religious order centered around Unitology, where death and the typical apocalypse are central to their beliefs.
The worst part is that they believe that the process of turning into a Necromorph is salvation itself, so they don't mind. In fact, some of them are even too giddy or excited about the prospect that they sever their limbs in advance. That's a signature cult pastime for the Unitologists. Mass suicide is another, along with ritualistic human sacrifices in bulk orders.
6 Los Illuminados - Resident Evil 4
Similar enough to the Unitologists of the Dead Space mythos, the Los Illuminados from Resident Evil 4 is one of the most disturbing cults to ever exist in a video game. Because the pestilence that they chose to deify is none other than a zombie virus itself, the Los Plagas.
Granted, it might just be due to the nature of the virus itself, which yearns to influence the actions of its host. Still, that doesn't excuse the cult's crimes. They're the full suite of evil as far as cults go, but most of them deal in kidnapping to bolster their numbers. What does make them more dangerous compared to other cults is that they have a goal of taking over the world, which explains why they kidnapped a president's daughter.
5 Shrouded Isle Cult - Shrouded Isle
One can't mention terrifying cults without some Lovecraftian occult reference. It just so happens that the Lovecraftian cult (who worships the Great Old Ones) in the Shrouded Isle offer a more intimate insight into the inner workings of their organization. That's because it's the players themselves who control the cult members.
Players can think of the whole game as a tourism management sim except the tourists are mere sacrificial lambs for the glory of the unseen ones. They'll have to meticulously plan how to lure and abduct these hapless tourists into their provincial fishing town so they can be offered as sacrifices. Now, since the town is also poor and struggling, some of these victims will have to be served up to servants instead.
4 The Project at Eden's Gate - Far Cry 5
Far Cry 5 has its own version of a doomsday cult and while they look inclusive and racially diverse, they're not halfway close to being decent. In fact, their existence is quite detestable and irritating. Their main activities usually revolve around land grabbing poor farmers' fields and acts of terror.
They also tend to corrupt everything they touch as every county or town within a hundred-mile radius takes hush money from their pockets. If that's not bad enough, they also dabble in the drug trade, smuggling, human trafficking, and all other kinds of illegal businesses. Plus, their church sessions are just plain creepy.
3 The Children of Atom - Fallout Series
While other cults here worship demons, monsters, and cranky gods, The Children of Atom in the Fallout games worship a literal bomb. This bomb also has yet to go off, yet that doesn't stop the Children of Atom from huddling around them and doing goodness knows what to the bombs when no one's looking.
Apart from the bomb, they also worship and embrace all of its aspects, including radiation. So, this is a cult that doesn't mind absorbing artificial cancer just because. It's not exactly a good business or organizational structure for the cult, bathing in radiation and quartering their lifespans, but, somehow, they're thriving in Fallout's wastelands.
2 The Order - Silent Hill
Yet another doomsday cult, The Order from the Silent Hill games are all about "oneness" and bringing about an apocalypse. They mostly aim to achieve this by huffing up hallucinogens to keep their members inundated and compliant. It's too bad their primary recruitment method is kidnapping, and forced intoxication. That's the "oneness" part.
The apocalypse part consists of a welcoming committee for an otherworldly god (which appears to be Lovecraftian in theme). This consists of a 14-year-old girl who's supposed to be impregnated, giving birth to the host of the said god. They could have stopped at the 'oneness' part and might still get voluntary recruits.
1 Mythic Dawn - Elder Scrolls Games
The Mythic Dawn is the notorious cult responsible for kicking off the main quest and significant events in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. They're the ones who murdered the emperor at their gods' behest, which is Mehrunes Dagon. He's the Daedric Prince of Destruction in Elder Scrolls lore, the equivalent to Satan.
Hence, the Mythic Dawn is practically Elder Scrolls' faux-Satanic cult. What does make their cult terrifying for both members and beholders is the fact that they don't mind letting Daedra or demons possess their bodies and invade their world, practically offering themselves as pawns. At least the dragons in Skyrim only burned things.