The trailer shows off many of the more horrifying features of The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu, like the elaborate hallucinations that players can suffer from. Among these are seeing an ally being completely covered by thousands of small tentacles, and the sudden appearance of strange creatures like a gigantic millipede. Regular enemies will also seemingly come in all shapes and sizes, from simple zombies and skeletons, to more fearsome foes like one that can seemingly make use of long tentacles to disable players.

Along with the release date, ACE Team has also revealed more details about the title, including its story setup and the motivations for players to explore the horrifying island. The players have a simple goal: gather as much wealth as they can get their hands on from the island. Along the way, they will also have to find a missing person and locate an ancient fort. However, from the moment players set foot on the shores of the island, a vague feeling of dread starts creeping in.

In gameplay terms, players will get to choose a contract to complete before setting off for the island. However, they will also need to ensure that the objectives are completed as soon as possible, since staying on the island for longer will also lead to more horrifying things showing up. Inventory space is also limited, and the combat system revolves more around defending oneself rather than being aggressive when enemies show up.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu also has a sanity system. Players facing too many horrifying things will start feeling their mind chip away. Effects of lowered sanity start out in simple ways, like hallucinations. However, these effects can escalate, with players seeing their allies as enemy monstrosities, or seeing solid ground that, in reality, is a deadly pit.

The title features a gameplay loop similar to extraction-styled games like ARC Raiders, with players needing to make their way back to their boat to successfully turn in all the treasure they found during their excursion. As you would expect, this also means that players will lose anything they were carrying if their return trip wasn’t successful.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is based on H.P. Lovecraft’s novella The Mound, which revolves around a haunted mound that leads the protagonist into an entirely new, horrifying subterranean world filled with ancient inhabitants.

The game was first unveiled back in November 2025 during an Xbox Partner Showcase. It was revealed with a trailer giving us our first look at its gameplay and world. The title seemingly taps into the sense of dread that many of Lovecraft’s stories are famous for, with powerful hallucinations that can bend a player’s reality.

That includes gameplay for not one but two cosmic horror titles – Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss and The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu. There’s also Edge of Memories, a new action RPG from the team behind Edge of Eternity, and Endurance Motorsport Series from KT Racing, which is all about long, grueling races in a professional setting.

Of course, the publisher also says there are “game announcements,” so there may be even more to see beyond the current slate. We may see more details for GreedFall: The Dying World, which exits early access on March 12th for PC alongside Xbox Series X/S and PS5. While its base version didn’t exactly set our world on fire, the RPG has seen numerous updates and improvements.

Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is the next big release, arriving on April 16th for the same platforms. Set in 2053, the story focuses on Noah, who ventures into the underwater city of R’lyeh to search for some missing miners. As you’d expect, he discovers something that will test the limits of his sanity.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu has players start out on their galleon where they must pick the right weapons and equipment to prepare for missions. They then set off into a cursed jungle where, the further you go inland, the stranger and creepier things get. Ultimately, players will get to see the entrance to a legendary underground world filled with unimaginable riches.

As its title implies, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu is inspired by the works of horror author H.P. Lovecraft. Tapping into the classic horror stories, the title is able to instill a sense of dread and oppression on players thanks to supernatural forces that can even bend the player’s reality. As shown in the trailer, this could extend as far as to make you think that an allied player is actually a cursed demon.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu doesn’t yet have a release date aside from a 2026 window. It is being developed for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, and will be an Xbox Play Anywhere title.