SCP: Project Pneuma reaches Steam Early Access on October 25, taking players into the ruins of Site-19 as Dr. Alexander Alexie Kolchak, one of the few survivors of a catastrophic containment failure. Zatun, the independent studio in Ahmedabad, India, announced the date on October 14, and the Early Access release contains the complete Chapter I campaign. One timing note: when checked on the morning of October 25 in Beijing, the store page still showed the game as coming soon, with no price listed, so the unlock lands later in the day on US time. Zatun's own official site lists the game at $7.99.
At a glance
Launches in Steam Early Access on October 25, 2026, for Windows PC, from independent developer and publisher Zatun.
Chapter I is complete and takes most players around 2 hours or more; a playable demo has been available since October 1.
A four-person team: two developers and two designers, self-publishing the game and building Chapter II now.
Anomalies include SCP-173Z, SCP-096Z, SCP-939Z and SCP-239Z, plus Infected former personnel and a skeletal giant beneath a lake.
Early Access lasts an estimated 6 to 12 months; Zatun's official site lists the game at $7.99, and the studio says the price will rise as new content ships.
Chapter I: a complete campaign, not a slice
The Early Access release contains the complete Chapter I story campaign, with multiple explorable environments, investigation mechanics and environmental puzzles. Players reconstruct what happened through journals, voice recordings, abandoned equipment and environmental evidence in the ruins. Supplies are limited, direct confrontation is rarely an option, and survival depends on understanding how each threat behaves rather than on firepower.
The store page's Early Access FAQ puts a number on the chapter: most players take around 2 hours or more to finish it. It also states what is still rough: interface and quality-of-life improvements are in progress, with some minor bugs remaining. Chapter II is in development and is not included in this version. That is a modest launch-day scope, presented as such rather than dressed up as something larger.
Every anomaly has its own rules
The game's horror runs on rule-learning. SCP-173Z is a silent predator that only moves when it is not being watched. SCP-096Z turns a quiet moment into a desperate fight for survival with a single glance. SCP-939Z stalks the forest, using sound and deception to lure its prey. SCP-239Z breaks reality down wherever she appears, twisting familiar places into nightmares. Alongside them are the Infected, former Foundation personnel transformed into hostile creatures, and Gashadokuro, an ancient skeletal giant lurking beneath a lake.
Hallucinations add a second layer of danger. As Alexie pushes deeper, familiar rooms distort, apparent routes change without warning, and the line between a real threat and a deteriorating mind blurs. The game also puts armed RRH cleanup forces in Alexie's path, hunting through the same ruins. The result is a horror game where the scariest question is often whether what you just saw was real, and where the wrong answer costs the run.
A four-person team, on the record
Zatun describes itself plainly on the store page: a small independent team of two developers and two designers, self-publishing the game. Early Access exists, in the team's words, so players can experience Chapter I now and so the team can hear what is working while Chapter II is still being built. For a team that size, the FAQ says, player feedback is the difference between guessing and knowing. That framing is refreshingly free of the usual Early Access grandstanding.
The commercial terms are stated just as plainly. The studio plans to gradually raise the price as it leaves Early Access and ships new content, including Chapter II, and any increase will be announced in advance so buyers have a chance to buy at the current price. The current price on Zatun's official site is $7.99, while the Steam page had not listed a price when checked on the morning of October 25 in Beijing. Players should confirm the Steam price at unlock, since the page had not yet flipped to purchasable at that check.
Try the demo first
The demo, live since October 1, is the sensible first step. It introduces the atmosphere, the exploration, the environmental storytelling and the anomaly-driven survival before any money changes hands. Chapter II, already in development, will continue the story in an entirely new setting with larger environments, new anomalies and deeper mysteries, according to the studio. A sequel is also in development beyond that, giving the project a longer horizon than a single chapter.
Halloween week is crowded with horror launches, and a two-hour first chapter from a four-person team has to earn its place in that crowd. The case for this one is specific: real SCP rule sets, a protagonist who cannot shoot his way out, and a team that has written down its limits before asking for money. Play the demo, learn one anomaly's rules, and decide from there.