TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
"I think what was achieved in the game is a wake-up call".
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Hellraiser: Revival's commitment to being both gnarly and horny has already been thoroughly documented, with PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon describing it as "nasty nasty" in his preview . This uncompromising attitude to both gore and kink went down well with fans, but it has also been celebrated by Hellraiser's creator, Clive Barker.
In an interview with horror site Dread Central (via FRVR), Barker admitted that he had concerns about the project going into it, but was thoroughly impressed by the final product. "I'm proud as f**k at the end result," he said. "I was fearful at one point that the game would be overly censored, but I'm genuinely astonished by how far they've been able to push it."
Barker, who worked closely with developer Saber Interactive to shape Revival's world and to advise on the game's story, reckons that Saber Interactive's work on the game is a prime example of how to approach adapting a license. "I think what was achieved in the game is a wake-up call to anyone who's been involved in the making of a franchise like Hellraiser," the author and director explained.
Barker reclaimed the American franchise rights to Hellraiser several years ago, and Hellraiser: Revival is written as a legacy sequel that ignores the trajectory of the films after Hellraiser 2. "There are many of the Hellraiser movies that were made by the Weinstein brothers that were created simply to hold onto the rights," Barker explained, pointing out that "less and less" money was spent on those films over time. "It's not the fault of the writers and directors, but just the way the system works in some cases."
But it seems the experience of working with Saber on Revival has whetted Barker's appetite to further explore the universe he created. "I have many ideas that I'd like to see realised in the Hellraiser universe, and I'm planning to keep my fingers in that pie," he said. For now, these ideas are being explored in a new series of comic books, but Barker says that he'd "love to go further in the movies."
Barker also strongly implied that Hellraiser: Revival does not represent the end of his collaboration with Saber. "I'm looking forward to working with them again on some other projects." It isn't clear whether this would be a sequel to Revival or an adaptation of a different work by Barker.
The positive reception to Hellraiser: Revival will likely be a relief to Saber Interactive too, following this summer's Rideshare Stimulator controversy. In August, Saber CEO Matt Karch denied accusations that the company had replaced Rideshare Stimulator writer Stella Sacco with ChatGPT, then issued an apology to Sacco for the way he publicly spoke about her following the allegation. Alongside all this, Saber admitted to using generative AI in a general sense, but the company's CCO Tim Willits assured players the tech is not used in Hellraiser: Revival or ongoing projects like Jurassic Park: Survival and Space Marine 3.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
2026 games: All the upcoming gamesBest PC games: Our all-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest RPGs: Grand adventuresBest co-op games: Better together
Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a pa...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Hellraiser: Revival's commitment to being both gnarly and horny has already been thoroughly documented, with PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon describing it as "nasty nasty" in his preview . This uncompromising attitude to both gore and kink went down well with fans, but it has also been celebrated by Hellraiser's creator, Clive Barker.
In an interview with horror site Dread Central (via FRVR), Barker admitted that he had concerns about the project going into it, but was thoroughly impressed by the final product. "I'm proud as f**k at the end result," he said. "I was fearful at one point that the game would be overly censored, but I'm genuinely astonished by how far they've been able to push it."
Barker, who worked closely with developer Saber Interactive to shape Revival's world and to advise on the game's story, reckons that Saber Interactive's work on the game is a prime example of how to approach adapting a license. "I think what was achieved in the game is a wake-up call to anyone who's been involved in the making of a franchise like Hellraiser," the author and director explained.
Barker reclaimed the American franchise rights to Hellraiser several years ago, and Hellraiser: Revival is written as a legacy sequel that ignores the trajectory of the films after Hellraiser 2. "There are many of the Hellraiser movies that were made by the Weinstein brothers that were created simply to hold onto the rights," Barker explained, pointing out that "less and less" money was spent on those films over time. "It's not the fault of the writers and directors, but just the way the system works in some cases."
But it seems the experience of working with Saber on Revival has whetted Barker's appetite to further explore the universe he created. "I have many ideas that I'd like to see realised in the Hellraiser universe, and I'm planning to keep my fingers in that pie," he said. For now, these ideas are being explored in a new series of comic books, but Barker says that he'd "love to go further in the movies."
Barker also strongly implied that Hellraiser: Revival does not represent the end of his collaboration with Saber. "I'm looking forward to working with them again on some other projects." It isn't clear whether this would be a sequel to Revival or an adaptation of a different work by Barker.
The positive reception to Hellraiser: Revival will likely be a relief to Saber Interactive too, following this summer's Rideshare Stimulator controversy. In August, Saber CEO Matt Karch denied accusations that the company had replaced Rideshare Stimulator writer Stella Sacco with ChatGPT, then issued an apology to Sacco for the way he publicly spoke about her following the allegation. Alongside all this, Saber admitted to using generative AI in a general sense, but the company's CCO Tim Willits assured players the tech is not used in Hellraiser: Revival or ongoing projects like Jurassic Park: Survival and Space Marine 3.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
2026 games: All the upcoming gamesBest PC games: Our all-time favoritesFree PC games: Freebie festBest FPS games: Finest gunplayBest RPGs: Grand adventuresBest co-op games: Better together
Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a pa...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?