Upon gaining entry to the asylum, he finds the bodies of the asylum's staff strewn about the hallways, and the now escaped inmates, known as the Variants, roaming the grounds. Miles Upshur, a freelance journalist, receives a tip-off from an anonymous source about Mount Massive Asylum, a psychiatric hospital owned and operated by the Murkoff Corporation. They appear as blue folders with 'CONFIDENTIAL' stamped on the front. The story unravels through documents that can be found in various locations. Batteries need to be collected throughout the game to keep the camcorder's night vision working. Having the camcorder on helps to record events and put notes in the player's notebook. The camcorder is battery operated and includes night vision, which is used to navigate through dark areas. The only item players will have equipped is a camcorder. Closing doors will impede enemies and squeezing through small spaces can lose them. When running, the player can look back at their pursuer.

However, enemies will look for them in these areas, so care must be taken. Players can hide in lockers and under beds. Combat is not possible and attempts to confront an enemy will result in death. In order to survive, the player must either run or hide from enemies. It has been received with a number of accolades and awards from E3 2013, including the 'Most Likely to Make you Faint' honor, and one of 'Best of E3'.

At Metacritic the PC version holds an 80/100, and PS4 version of game holds an 78/100, with praise stemming primarily from its horror elements and gameplay while being criticized for its environments and character modeling. Outlast was met with mostly positive reviews from critics. Following the game's overall success, the developers started working on its sequel, Outlast 2 which was released on April 25, 2017. Outlast: Whistleblower, a direct prequel and finale to the game, was released as downloadable content on May 6th, 2014 for PS4 and PC, and on June 19th, 2014 for Xbox One. It was released on Septemfor Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 on Februand for Xbox One on June 18th, 2014. Outlast is a first-person survival horror video game developed and published by Red Barrels and the first installment in the Outlast series.

Outlast 2 game therory