JIAOHUN (叫魂), developed by 12AM BLACKOUT (子时熄灯), is a cinematic psychological horror title played from a first-person view, set in a small Chinese town in the late 1990s. Its reveal teaser favors folk occultism, body horror, and uncanny domestic settings over jump scares, tracking a scarred protagonist through unlit apartments, ritual passageways, and a deteriorating hotel.
Quick answer: JIAOHUN is targeting a 2027 release on Steam (PC) and PlayStation 5, with wishlisting open now.
You can watch the full reveal below.
Release window and platforms
The teaser closes on a final slate confirming a 2027 release window, a “WISHLIST NOW” prompt, and platform logos for Steam and PS5. No exact date has been set. The game is built on Unreal Engine.
| Detail | Confirmed |
|---|---|
| Developer | 12AM BLACKOUT (子时熄灯) |
| Platforms | Steam (PC), PlayStation 5 |
| Engine | Unreal Engine |
| Release window | 2027 |
| Genre | First-person psychological horror |
Setting: Fairy Town in the late 1990s
You return to Fairy Town, a little-known settlement in Baishoi County that endured alternating fortunes as the new century drew near. The town’s efforts to embrace modernization all came to nothing, and you slowly uncover the mystery of its collapse. A voiceover in Chinese accompanies the teaser, invoking fate, burial grounds, and unending rest.
Environments lean hard into vintage Chinese domestic life. Wood-paneled doorways, concrete apartment stairwells, enclosed balcony hallways with red window frames, and the dilapidated front of the “翡翠賓館” (Emerald Hotel) at night all feature. A dark theater with ceiling fans and a red-curtained stage holds a single seated figure, and a ritual corridor is strung with paper crafts and funeral wreaths lit by red candles.
How the horror plays
You explore in first person as a specific story character, shown with bare forearms marked by severe burns or scarring and a green jade bangle on the right wrist. Darkness is the core obstacle, and the teaser shows the protagonist lighting matches to reveal rooms and reading an electronic pager, grounding the fear in period-accurate gear rather than modern tools.
Chinese folk rites shape the interactions. A brisk sequence shows hands clutching incense, unusual masks, a cleaver chopping meat, locks on gates, and burn-scarred arms setting joss sticks in an incense burner. Talisman papers cover the walls, and the character “福” appears among the ritual scenes.
The creatures and apparitions
The teaser shows several spiritual apparitions. A struck match briefly illuminates a bloodied talisman fixed to a door, beside a humanoid in a suit wearing a wooden bird mask with a paper-like appearance. In a later shot, a figure steps out of total darkness as three large white chrysanthemum blooms spread across its face. Elsewhere, someone hangs from high-voltage wires above a field of dead grass, while shadow puppets move through rooms filled with talismans.
Where JIAOHUN fits in the lineup
JIAOHUN opened the Triple-i Initiative’s October 2026 showcase, a 45-minute, presenter-free run of back-to-back indie trailers that featured around 40 games. It sits among other 2027-bound horror titles shown at the same event, but stands apart for its regional folk-occult framing and 1990s small-town China backdrop. For now, wishlisting on Steam and PS5 is the only action available while the 2027 window firms up.
