Rise Studios announced Heaven Does Not Respond for Q1 2026 release on Steam, with a demo available during Steam Next Fest. The psychological and analog horror simulation drops players into an alternate 2005 timeline as an intelligence agent investigating the mysterious death of Selim Kara through his corrupted computer. You’ll explore a retro Windows 95/98-inspired desktop interface, decrypt hidden files, and watch unsettling home videos that transport you into a digital realm called Heaven. The game combines Her Story’s FMV investigation mechanics with analog horror’s nostalgic dread, creating what developers describe as a deeply personal and disturbing experience.
The Investigation Setup
Heaven Does Not Respond casts you as an intelligence agent working for the National Intelligence Center (NIC) on a peculiar case. A young man named Selim Kara has died under mysterious circumstances, and both his camera and home computer contain crucial evidence. When NIC investigators attempted to access the devices, files became corrupted or disappeared entirely, prompting the cyber division chief to hand the case to a veteran analyst with specific instructions to dig deeper.
Your investigation unfolds entirely through Selim’s malfunctioning computer interface. There’s no traditional gameplay outside this digital forensics framework – no combat, no exploration of physical spaces, just you sitting at a terminal piecing together what happened. The corrupted files, hidden folders, and cryptic videos become your only window into Selim’s life and the events leading to his death. The twist is that when you watch the home videos, you don’t just observe passively – you somehow become part of the footage itself.
Her Story Meets The Ring
Rise Studios explicitly describes Heaven Does Not Respond as combining Her Story with The Ring. Her Story revolutionized FMV (full motion video) games in 2015 by having players search through police interview clips to solve a missing person case. Instead of linear storytelling, you used keywords to find relevant footage, piecing together the narrative from fragments. The non-linear investigation rewarded attention to detail and creative search queries.
The Ring reference adds the horror dimension. In the 2002 film, characters watch a cursed videotape that kills viewers seven days later. Heaven Does Not Respond similarly features videos that contain something dangerous or corrupting. The game’s description mentions that something in the machine learns, listens, and doesn’t want to be found, suggesting the investigation itself might be risky. The blend creates investigative gameplay with supernatural consequences rather than just puzzle-solving.
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Developer | Rise Studios (Turkey) |
| Setting | Alternate 2005 timeline |
| Role | Intelligence agent investigating mysterious death |
| Interface | Retro desktop OS inspired by Windows 95/98 |
| Mechanics | Decrypt files, watch videos, search for clues |
| Horror Type | Psychological and analog horror |
| Demo Length | 30-60 minutes (average 39 minutes) |
| Release Window | Q1 2026 (January-March) |
| Platform | PC (Steam) |
Understanding Analog Horror
Analog horror emerged in the late 2010s as a distinct horror subgenre using the aesthetic of old media formats – VHS tapes, public access television, emergency broadcasts, and vintage computer interfaces. Series like Local 58, The Mandela Catalogue, and The Monument Mythos pioneered the format, using deliberately degraded video quality, distorted audio, and nostalgic media forms to create unease.
The effectiveness comes from subverting familiar comfort. People remember late-night TV static, emergency alert system tests, and old computer interfaces as mundane parts of childhood. When these familiar elements become corrupted or reveal something sinister, the uncanny valley effect hits harder than traditional jump scares. Heaven Does Not Respond taps this by recreating a 2005 computer interface that feels authentic to anyone who used Windows during that era, then corrupting that familiarity with something wrong.
The Desktop Horror Genre
Heaven Does Not Respond joins growing ranks of desktop horror games where gameplay happens entirely within simulated computer interfaces. Hypnospace Outlaw (2019) had players enforce internet laws across a fictional 1999 web. Immortality (2022), another Sam Barlow game, involved searching through footage from three unmade films. Stories Untold (2017) mixed text adventures with analog horror aesthetics.
These games eliminate traditional movement and combat, focusing entirely on information gathering, pattern recognition, and narrative piecing. The constraint forces developers to make interfaces engaging through mystery and atmosphere rather than action. Heaven Does Not Respond adds the layer of videos that you become part of when watching, blurring lines between observer and participant in ways that echo Barlow’s experimental narrative structures.
Rise Studios Background
Rise Studios is a Turkish indie developer whose debut game ROSE launched in Early Access in August 2025. ROSE is an emotional puzzle-platformer following a little girl in a war-torn world, using visuals instead of words to tell its story. The game received attention during Steam Next Fest and features in the Made in Turkey events showcasing Turkish game development.
Heaven Does Not Respond represents a dramatic tonal and mechanical shift from ROSE’s wordless platforming to FMV investigation horror. The decision to tackle such different genres back-to-back suggests Rise Studios is experimenting to find their identity rather than becoming pigeonholed in one style. The team appears small based on their social media presence, making the simultaneous development of two distinct games an ambitious undertaking.
FAQs
When does Heaven Does Not Respond release?
Q1 2026, meaning January, February, or March 2026. No specific date has been announced. A demo is currently available on Steam that was featured during Steam Next Fest and Made in Turkey events.
How long is the full game?
Not confirmed, though the demo runs 30-60 minutes with an average of 39 minutes. If the demo represents roughly a quarter of the content, the full game might be 2-4 hours, typical for FMV investigation games in the Her Story tradition.
Is it actually scary?
Based on demo feedback, it focuses on atmospheric dread and unsettling implications rather than jump scares. The horror comes from corrupted files, disturbing video content, and the feeling that something in the computer is aware of you. It’s psychological horror rather than traditional monster scares.
Do I need to play ROSE first?
No, Heaven Does Not Respond is completely unrelated to Rise Studios’ other game ROSE. They share a developer but have no narrative connections, shared universe, or mechanics in common. You can play either independently.
Are there multiple endings?
Not confirmed. Her Story featured a single solution but allowed players to stop investigating whenever they felt satisfied with their understanding. Heaven Does Not Respond might follow similar philosophy where the narrative has definitive answers but players control when they’ve learned enough.
Will there be jumpscares?
The analog horror genre typically avoids cheap jumpscares in favor of building dread through atmosphere and implication. Nothing in promotional materials suggests jumpscares are a focus, though watching corrupted videos might include startling moments.
Can I play the demo now?
Yes, the demo is available on the Steam page right now. It’s been featured in multiple Steam events including Next Fest and Made in Turkey showcases, and remains accessible for anyone wanting to try before the Q1 2026 launch.
What platforms will it be on?
Currently only PC via Steam has been announced. No information about console versions for PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch exists. Desktop horror games typically stay PC-exclusive since they simulate computer interfaces.
Why Desktop Horror Resonates
Desktop horror games work because they collapse the distance between player and game world. When you’re investigating files on a simulated computer while sitting at your actual computer, the boundary between fiction and reality thins. A fake error message on a fake desktop looks identical to real error messages on your real desktop. This proximity creates discomfort that traditional third-person horror can’t achieve.
Heaven Does Not Respond’s 2005 setting adds nostalgia that amplifies this effect for millennials and Gen Z who grew up during that era. If you remember using Windows XP, dealing with corrupted files, and watching grainy home videos, seeing those elements recreated and corrupted triggers memories and makes the horror feel more personal. The alternate timeline aspect means the game can introduce impossible elements – the Heaven Project, whatever that is – while maintaining enough familiar touchstones to keep players grounded. If Rise Studios executes this balance effectively, Heaven Does Not Respond could become the next Her Story or Hypnospace Outlaw, a game that defines its niche through innovative presentation and unsettling atmosphere. The Q1 2026 launch gives them a clean early-year window before bigger releases dominate conversation, perfect positioning for a word-of-mouth indie horror hit.