Best VR Horror Games in 2023
Navigating an abandoned mansion’s labyrinthine halls, every creak and groan of the aging foundations reverberating like ominous early death knells in your ears, the mental heft of an unseen horror weighing heavily on your mind: no video game technology is better suited to horror games than VR.
The deep immersion provided by a VR headset makes you feel like you are there, a part of the thrilling and terrifying worlds conjured up by horror games. It’s a match made in heaven. And, one all horror fans should waste no time trying out.
As with any genre, there are superb games worth your time and money, and dire aberrations best forgotten. Fortunately, VR developers are hitting their stride, now more capable than ever of enhancing and maximizing the immersive qualities of VR to have even the most stoic gamers quivering in terror.
Here are our top picks for the very best VR horror games you can play right now.
Products at a Glance
Best VR Horror Games in 2023
Resident Evil: Biohazard
- Resident Evil franchise
- Compelling story
- Insanely immersive gameplay
- Genuinely terrifying
- PSVR only
- No PS Move support
Five Nights At Freddy’s VR
- Fan favorite and one of the top selling VR games
- No shortage of quality jump scares
- Simple premise with fun mini-games and collectables
- Compatible with all Oculus, SteamVR, and PSVR headsets
- Not the most polished game visually
Phasmophobia
- Ghost hunting TV show in video game format
- Multiplayer
- Endless replayability
- Immersive, terrifying atmosphere
- SteamVR only
The Exorcist: Legion VR
- An immersive treat
- Episodic structure
- Based on the work of William Peter Blatty
- Available on SteamVR, Oculus, and PSVR
- On the short side
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
- Based on The Walking Dead universe
- Zombies!
- Satisfying and gory combat
- Testing moral dilemmas
- Available on Steam, Oculus, and PSVR
- Lacks the psychological horror of other games on our list
Our Verdict
Resident Evil: Biohazard
If there’s one VR horror game you play, let it be Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Capcom has expertly ported the franchise’s strongest traits to the immersive platform alongside a gripping story, stunning visuals, and enough psychological terror to have you tearing off your headset more than once as you make your way through the Baker’s Bayou estate.
A horror classic retooled to make the most of VR’s intense, immersive qualities, Five Nights At Freddy’s VR: Help Wanted is animatronic nightmare fuel. Versions for most platforms and headsets make it one of the most accessible VR horror games out there, and the mini-games add a fun extra layer to the experience of keeping the pizzeria in tip-top shape for those five long nights.
One of last year’s breakout hits and a Twitch favorite, Phasmophobia‘s four-player co-op ghost hunting antics are as terrifying as they are fun. It’s those tacky, over theatrical cable ghost hunting shows brought to the video game medium, but actually scary thanks to the marvels of VR immersion. There’s loads of replayability, too, so a game to gorge on over and over with friends hungry for an intense, shared dose of fear.
With William Peter Blatty on writing duties, The Exorcist: Legion VR channels the disturbing religious-steeped horror of the source material to deliver a bite-sized horror experience that’s as much about its compelling narrative as it is about its rich-detailed world. A must-play for fans of the hit movie and, more broadly, horror buffs searching for their next fix.
With zombies, gory combat, and the heft of a much-loved universe, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is all about tearing through hordes of zombies and weathering the trials and tribulations of a bleak, post-apocalyptic world.
With that, we’ll wrap up our guide to the best VR horror games. Do let us know in the comments section below if you have any recommendations of your own.