Almost one year ago to the day, the official wishlist trailer for an upcoming game titled Paranormal Activity: Threshold was released. Being intended for one of the largest horror movie franchises in history, this was highly anticipated by fans and gamers alike. If you are an avid gamer who enjoys the thrills of being scared, an added bonus to this game was that developer Brian Clarke was the one behind this. His 2022 game The Mortuary Assistant is highly acclaimed and almost everyone has tried it by now or at least heard of–as it has even had a movie adaptation this year (and is streamable on the platform Shutter, for those interested).
With the reception being amazing and everything looking up, it was quite the shock for everyone when Clarke announced earlier this year Paranormal Activity: Threshold was cancalled. The reasoning for it being that he and and publisher DreadXP could not complete the game in a good faith effort; their craft needed more time than Paramount was willing to give them. While this was a sad end, fans were not upset by the decision, many praised Clarke and DreadXP for standing up for themselves and wanting to put out something perfected rather than rushed.
I have a very important announcement everyone. Please have a read. Thank you all for your ongoing support of my work and love for indie games as a whole. 🖤🖤 https://t.co/kmCS3t3BTq
— Brian Clarke ⚰️ (@DSDigitalDev) May 7, 2026
Those who stood behind them during this debacle got another surprise regarding the game yesterday, this time being a positive one. Clarke worked on what he had and released it on Steam for free just in time for Halloween and left everyone with a heartfelt message:
It’s been a long time since I’ve released something new and those following my work know that the project I had been working on the past few years, set to be my next major title, was canceled. After putting so much of myself into it and a wonderful reception at PAX earlier this year, I have to admit, I was feeling burnt out and I imagined the project would simply sit on a shelf forever. A forgotten relic of development that sat in darkness while I built up a plan for a new project.
However, recently DreadXP reached out to me and floated the idea of maybe releasing what I had. It felt like a good way of laying the project to rest instead of remaining a lingering ghost. So, I worked to adjust the project where needed and polished up the edges to release the work I had done.
I’m sad to say that a good deal of work was still left on the cutting room floor but I’m proud of what I am able to share and that it is going to see the light of day in some form.
Now under the name Playable Archive, everyone has access to this passion project that refuses to stay buried.