The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu Gameplay Trailer Debuts alongside Steam Next Fest Demo

Chilean developer ACE Team has officially pulled back the curtain on its upcoming four-player co-op horror shooter, The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu. Ahead of its scheduled release on July 15, 2026, the studio dropped a gameplay overview trailer showing off the tense, resource-driven loop players will face in a cursed South American jungle. Alongside the video reveal, a playable demo has gone live as part of Steam Next Fest, giving players a chance to test their survival instincts.

The announcement represents a significant shift for ACE Team, a studio historically known for surreal first-person brawlers and bizarre physics games. With this project, they are steering directly into squad-based cosmic dread.

Braving the Deep Jungle in the Steam Next Fest Demo

The newly released demo provides a hands-on preview of the game’s core mechanics. Available for a limited time on Steam, this build allows players to form squads of up to four to experience the claustrophobic underground ruins.

If you are planning to jump in, you can consult our beta and demo guide for tips on getting the build configured. Given the detailed, atmosphere-heavy lighting shown in the trailer, it is also a good opportunity to check how your rig handles the strain by looking over the expected system requirements.

A Breakdown of the Gameplay Loop

The gameplay trailer highlights a loop that balances shooting, looting, and survival. Rather than a straightforward run-and-gun shooter, the game tasks players with descending into subterranean ruins to secure valuable relics while keeping their footing against waves of bizarre entities.

Key elements detailed in the overview include:

• Sanity Management: Exposure to the dark and cosmic anomalies steadily erodes your character’s mental state. As madness takes hold, visual distortions and audio hallucinations will make it harder to coordinate with your team. We broke down how these mechanics affect moment-to-moment play in our sanity system analysis.
• Eldritch Threats: The depths are populated by aggressive fauna and ancient, tentacled abominations. The trailer showcases several of the confirmed creatures you will encounter, emphasizing that ammunition is scarce and head-on fights should sometimes be avoided.
• The Hunt for Riches: Survival is only part of the job. Players must locate and extract ancient artifacts to fund better gear and upgrades for subsequent runs.

Team Play and Launch Info

Coordination is central to surviving the ruins. Players will need to share resources, cover blind spots, and manage light sources. While the demo is currently limited to PC, the full launch on July 15 will expand to console audiences. For details on how matchmaking and crossplay will function at launch, check our co-op and solo play overview.

The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu will release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. If you are looking to secure a copy early, you can review the available editions in our pre-order guide.