The story premise (no spoilers)
You play Aidan, who uses a puzzle box called the Genesis Configuration to follow his girlfriend Sunny into Hell after a bargain with Pinhead. You fight the Scarlet Church, a cult that worships the Cenobites, and move between the mortal world and the Labyrinth. Saber describes it as a new chapter in the series, with Doug Bradley back as Pinhead.
When does it take place?
Associate game director Vid Rajin told 80 Level that the game is set about 20 years after the original film and draws heavily on the first two films. The original came out in 1987, so outlets place the story in the late 2000s. The sources we checked do not give an exact in-game year, so treat “around 2007” as an inference.
Is it canon? Do I need to watch the films?
The developers call it an official continuation. In interviews they say they built on Barker’s original work, including the novella The Hellbound Heart and the first couple of films, and did not go further than those early works. The later sequels and the 2022 reboot are not part of its story. You do not need to have seen any film to follow it.
How involved was Clive Barker?
Barker was consulted on the story from the start of development, and IMDb credits him for the characters. The game director is Emil Esov and the narrative director is Antony de Fault. It is the first video game in the Hellraiser series; Pinhead previously appeared in Dead by Daylight as licensed DLC.
Revival vs Clive Barker’s Jericho
Clive Barker’s Jericho (2007) was a squad-based first-person shooter built around an original Barker story. It is not part of Hellraiser, and none of its characters return. Revival is a single-player survival horror game set in the Hellraiser universe. The two share Barker’s name and themes, but no story.
Familiar Hellraiser themes
Expect the series’ core ideas: the line between pain and pleasure, bargains with the Cenobites, puzzle boxes as doors, and body horror. The new box, the Genesis Configuration, is also a weapon. Its powers are covered in Genesis Configuration.
Sources & review scope
Checked on 9 October 2026. Official announcements and store listings establish the facts identified above; third-party guides and player reports are named where they are the only source. This article is not a hands-on test by this site.