A lost brother. A cursed VHS format. A government cover-up.
Dead Format is a survival horror game that takes you on a nightmarish journey through iconic eras of film. Set in 1990s Scotland, you play as a desperate sibling searching for their missing brother who was last seen obsessing over a mysterious VHS format. Dive into the tapes, fight your way through cinematic worlds, and find your brother before it’s too late.
Survive the cursed tapes
Your apartment is the hub. Here you can review clues, catch your breath, and prepare for the journey ahead. Use the Television set and insert VHS tapes to open the door to new worlds, each one with its own inspiration. Search for clues and face the nightmares in universes inspired by Silent Era Cinema, Italian Giallo films, and 80s Body Horror.
Classic Film meets Survival Horror
Search for supplies to stay alive and uncover key items to solve puzzles, unlocking your path forward.
Arm yourself with weapons and tools inspired by the film worlds you’ll explore.
Discover homemade VHS footage that blurs the line between fiction and reality.
Your apartment is the only place you can save the game. Find shortcuts and new paths to progress on your journey.
Each world comes with its own enemies, puzzles, and unique areas to explore.
A Mixed Media Game
Everything in Dead Format is created just for the game. This includes the VHS footage, which is recorded and edited by Katanalevy. Each tape provides a nostalgic window into the worlds players will explore.
About the Developer
Chris Evry (Katanalevy) is a Scottish solo developer drawn to creating experiences that are a blend of the darkly visceral and gothic sublime. He is the creator of Cardiac, Symphony of Seven Souls and Daemonologie.
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News & Updates
2026-04-15
Complete Our Side Quest and Win
As you probably know, in a huge variety of game titles there are usually a lot of mainline task objectives, but very often there are multiple side quests that would advance you further in the gameplay. This is exactly why we decided to run a Side Quest promotion on our YUPLAY site. In order to participate in it you have to make an order over 20€ between 17.04.2026 18:10 CET and 20.04.2026 02:00 CET, and you will get a 1€ voucher for next purchase…
The Easter season is here and since we like this part of the year so much, we have made sure to have prepared a special YUPLAY promotional campaign for those of you that are ready to go into the Raid Party and grab a FREE gaming title. All you have to do is make an order above 20€ between 02.04.2026 15:00 CET and 08.04.2026 15:00 CET, and you will get a FREE game as ab Easter present from us…
This game requires manual configuration of graphics settings to perform well on Steam Deck
This game does not default to external Bluetooth/USB controllers on Deck, and may require manually switching the active controller via the Quick Access Menu
All functionality is accessible when using the default controller configuration
