Deadly Premonition
A polarizing survival horror game with a cult following.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
Deadly Premonition is an open-world survival horror game from 2010, developed by Access Games. The player takes on the role of FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan, who is sent to the fictional rural town of Greenvale, Washington, to investigate the murder of an eighteen-year-old woman. This killing appears to be connected to a series of similar murders across the country. The game originally launched on Xbox 360 in February 2010. The PlayStation 3 version was released in Japan in March 2013 as part of the Director's Cut, not in March 2010. In North America, Ignition Entertainment published the Xbox 360 version, while Marvelous Entertainment handled the Japanese release and Rising Star Games released it in Europe. The PlayStation 3 version was released worldwide, also by Marvelous Entertainment. A director's cut edition arrived for PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows worldwide in 2013, published by Rising Star Games. A Nintendo Switch port, titled *Deadly Premonition: Origins*, followed in 2019.
- release_year
- 2010
- platforms
- Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch
Lore & Background
Deadly Premonition is a reworked version or spiritual successor of Access Games' earlier game Rainy Woods, which was canceled in 2008. The game combined Rainy Woods' assets with a new scenario and protagonist, Francis York Morgan. Development focused on realism, with non-player characters following individualized 24-hour schedules and the town's scale replicating a rural American town. Issues with memory allocation, lighting, shadows, and the PhysX engine were encountered during development.
Reader's Guide
Deadly Premonition received wildly varying critical reviews and holds the Guinness World Record for the most critically polarizing survival horror game. Although not commercially successful upon release, it has garnered a cult following and has been cited as an example of games as art. A director's cut edition for PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows was released in 2013, and a Nintendo Switch port, Deadly Premonition: Origins, followed in 2019. A sequel, Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise, was released in 2020.
Did You Know?
- Deadly Premonition is a reworked version or spiritual successor of the cancelled game Rainy Woods, not a confirmed reboot.
- The game does not hold an official Guinness World Record for most critically polarizing survival horror game.
- Non-player character
More in Marvelous franchises 1-22
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record